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/

Not again!

We are taking a step backwards (or a step of defiance), I am not quite sure yet.  Sidney has been doing great up until lately.  She has been bold and living large.  She has been swimming at lessons, ice skating and doing gymnastics (not all at the same time of course).  All of this progress came to a crashing halt a couple of weeks ago.  It started in gymnastics, which she is fantastic at.  She was the only 4 year old that could do chin ups, several of them, unassisted.  After several lessons, she started freaking out.  She cried and refused to go.  The same thing started happening in swim. 

Of course, us being who were are, started getting super frustrated.  At one point I think I told her that she would never get in the water again if she did not go to her lesson - really?  No baths - what was I thinking?  Of course, this did not work at all!  Finally after about 3 times of this between gymnastics and swim, we were at our breaking point.  Alas, internet to the rescue.  Kevin did his research and we found a much better approach.  It goes something like this...

Sidney:  "I am not doing it."

Us:  "Sidney, you are not a quitter.  Dress down and join your team.  We will not make you do the activities, but you need to get dressed and join your team." 

At swim this means she must sit on the edge of the pool.  At gymnastics she must sit on the side of the mat.  We sit near her and talk to her about what the other kids are doing.  What do you think will come next?  Does that look easy?  Does that look hard?  Does she know how to do it?  She declares several times that she does not want to participate.  We reply, "Okay, but you are part of the team and must participate by getting dressed and sitting with your team.  Quitting is not an option."  After about 5 minutes of this, she starts to jump in and ends up having a blast. 

Exhausting?  Yes.  Happy?  Yes.  This parenting thing is hard work!

Out of the Mouths of Babes!

As I am beginning to type the post, I am listening to the girls crafting in the background:

Sidney:  "Kendall, you were not supposed to do that."

Kendall:  "I know what you were going to say...great artist's never mess up!"

So Humble!

The other day I was picking the girls up from Grandma Terrell's and the conversation went something like this:

Kendall:  "I am going on a date with Israel."  (Israel is her fifth grade reading buddy).

Me:  "Isn't he a little bit old for you?"

Kendall:  "No, I am 6 and he is 9.  Not too old at all."

First of all, I think she has her ages wrong.  Secondly, I think this is all very normal (I hope!)  My circle of moms email tell me that kissing kindergartners is nothing to be alarmed about.  If this is all very normal - why am I freaking out:) ?

Lovely Sidney!

To continue with my 6 month plan, Sidney got her 4-1/2 year old pictures this weekend.  She is such a ham.  The photographer was laughing the whole time.  This first picture was ALL Sidney's idea (wings and all). 

 

 

 

 

Going Private.

I am going to follow the lead of my friends on this one.  I would just never want to compromise my children by putting information out there that could be harmful.  Also, I use my blog as a scrapbook for the girls to read in the future and have left out many details in the interest of safety.  If you are a reader, please send me your email address or leave a comment on the blog and I will send you an invitation.