Gymnastics.

And she did it!  Sidney Nicole finished her 8 weeks of gymnastics.  The last week we were in the car and she said, "I love gymnastics.  I want to be signed up again."  I looked back at her and said in my best deadpan voice "Really?"  Her reply, "No, not really."  That is what I suspected, but she did at least finish. 

 

Here she is demonstrating some of her super human strength.   

 

Jumping on the "tramp" as her and Kendall have dubbed it.

 

A little beam work.  

 

Sidney's personal favorite, the gymnastics salute!

Kendall excelled at the beam. 

 

 

On the blue beam she had to throw the bean bag in the air and catch it while walking along the beam.  Pretty tricky.

Over the bar she goes.

 

Chin ups (looks a bit like chin rest to me).

 

 Front roll.

 Log roll.

On the Seventh Day, He Rested.

Every night when I tuck the girls in we say prayers.  Since I can remember Kendall starts her prayer like this, "Dear God, I hope you have a good nights sleep."  Last Sunday after she was done praying, I said, "You know Kendall, God probably doesn't really sleep."  She looks at me, snaps her fingers and says, "Duh Mom, he does on Sunday's."  I had to laugh.  Then I leave for a work trip the following three days.  Last night (Thursday) was my first night home since this conversation.  I tuck Kendall in and she starts her prayer, "Dear God, I hope you have a good nights sleep this Sunday."  Smart girl!

Pillowcases and Our Happy Dance.

My Grandma Juanita sent the girls these beautiful pillowcases.  She is 87 years old pretty amazing.  The girls thought they were pretty awesome and ran upstairs to put them on their pillows.  Sidney stated that she was "never" going to take them off.  Does she remember the last time she had the flu?  I am sure that she will change her mind.

 

This year we have been reading like crazy.  This is largely motivated by the Pizza Hut coupons that Kendall receives for reading books each month.  Our latest quest is to read 400 minutes for Roaring Springs passes.  We had until March 31st to finish this.  I believe that we had reached 400 minutes by mid February.  Grandma Terrell has joined in on the fun.  She takes them to the library to check out books and has a big book of fairy tales that she reads to them.  Some of their favorites are Jack and the Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel and The Ugly Duckling.

Sidney posing with her library book and the "rumble roller".  What is a rumble roller?  Think foam roller on steroids.  Self inflicted pain - Ouch!

This Thursday was MY favorite day of the month...cleaning day.  After Thing 2 (Sid) came along and I decided to continue on with my career, an investment in my sanity seemed in order.  I figured if I was going to work, I did not want to spend my weekends cleaning!  We decided to have someone come in and deep clean once a month.  It is by far the BEST investment I have ever made.  Each month I look forward to coming home on that day and admiring the beauty of a clean home.  I run into the house first because it usually only takes 5 minutes for chaos and disorder to resume. 

The girls have also grown to appreciate this day, but for very different reasons.  The anticipation builds the night before as we all frantically run around picking up our belongings and clearing off surfaces.  I figure if the cleaners do not have to "pick up" after me, they will be more focused on cleaning.  Last Thursday the girls also came running into the house.  Kendall yelled, "Come on Sidney, let's go see our beds."  Both girls ran up the stairs.  The cleaners have made a habit of making the girls beds and displaying all of their stuffed animals in a fun and new way (this is quite a feat considering the large amount of stuffed critters the girls have).  I could hear the girls literally squealing as they ran to each others room.  Like I said - BEST investment ever!  If you are in the need of house cleaning I highly recommend Bruce and the gang at Maid in Idaho.  http://www.maidinidaho.com/