On to Super Pike!

Kendall just completed her first session of swimming lessons.  Here is what her teacher had to say...

Biggest improvement is definitely accurate.  The lessons were 4 weeks long.  The first week was pretty sketchy.  She spent most of the lesson sitting on the side of the pool trembling in fear.  After the first night she told me "I know how to swim mommy.  I don't need to come back here".  Sure...swimming with 3 noodles beneath you is not really swimming.  After night 2 of the trembling, I decided to be straight with my little tike.  We sat at a table at the "Y" and I told her that water is fun, but water is VERY dangerous.  If she did not learn to swim, we would not allow her to play in the water anymore.  Well, pull herself together she did and never looked back.  Here is our little fish on the last day of lessons.  The swim test was the previous night, so the last night was a fun night including some life jacket training.

 

We have been making swim night fun for both girls by arriving about half an hour early so they can play in the huge kiddie pool.  Kendall and Sidney refer to it as the "2's pool" because it is the only pool Sid is allowed to play in at the moment.  On the last night, we were running a bit late so no free swim time.  Sid was a little trooper and endured my endless picture taking.  At one point she stood over the heater vent and blew out her hair in Marilyn Monroe fashion.  Silly girl!

Just Monkeying Around...

Finally after months of hearing Kendall's pleading and how all of her friends have been there, we finally took a trip to Monkey Bizness.  Of course being the thrifty girl that I am, I had to wait for a coupon.  I fully rationalized my madness with the fact that I was teaching my kids about "patience".  Well today the patience paid off.  We were waiting at the door of Monkey Bizness the moment it was open.  As we were checking in, the man that worked there told Kevin and I that we were welcome to play on the equipment as well.  In fact, he "strongly encouraged all parents to try the slide".  When we entered the room, we understood what he was talking about.  Seriously crazy.  It is a wonder that little kids would actually go down this insane thing!  Kendall loved it.  Kevin thought he nearly killed himself, and I have to admit that my heart was pounding pretty hard.  It was definitely fun and climbing up the crazy thing was an incredible workout:)

Sidney found pleasure in the more simple things.  She would start to walk near the giant slide then quickly high-tail it outta there.  Kevin mentioned going down it with her and she shook her head with vigor.  No way!

It was a great time.  The girls are already asking us when they can go back!

"The Leprechaun's Stepped on Ava's Cot"

Wow, this was a St. Patrick's Day to remember.  I have never been one to really celebrate the day, but this year was an exception.  The week started with a care package from Grandma Terrell.  She had showered the girls with green gifts.  They each had hair bands, hair bows, lucky socks and St. Patti's day candy.  Here is Sid modeling her hair bow and her "rainbow" socks.

Then the week got even more exciting as Kendall would come home with tales of the Leprechaun's.  She told us how they will come in the middle of the night and steal their shoes.  So naturally, the kids in her class made a Leprechaun trap.  They decorated a cardboard box with paper and trinkets to attract the little men.  Then they put fool's gold inside to really entice them.  So Wednesday night Kendall came home anticipating that they would certainly have trapped some Leprechauns the next morning.  When they entered the school the next day, there were tiny green footprints everywhere.  across the floor, up the mirror, leaving "footprints on Ava's cot and one of Emilio's shoes".  Shockingly, the trap was empty.  The kids were left with a great big note that said "HA HA nice try kiddos, but we Leprechaun's have outsmarted you".  Then after drinking some green milk, they were sent on a scavenger hunt to find chocolate gold coins and mardi gras necklaces.  Later that day they stood some white carnations in green food coloring to see what would happen....The next day the white flowers had green tips - fun! 

It is days like this that I wish I was a kid again.  I would relish every moment of it.  It is too bad that as kids, we just cannot wait to grow up and be adults:)

Girls Day at the Mall

It has been a busy weekend.  Last night the Nelson kids were over.  They are moving into a new house, so Rebecca and David are trying to get most everything moved in this weekend.  Kevin is working at the state basketball tournament, so he has been home lat and gone early.  The tournament ends this afternoon.  I think he will be ready for the break.  The girls are ecstatic, because the Nelson kids will be staying overnight tonight.  They did not stay last night because I knew I had Sidney's pictures scheduled this morning.  As I told Rebecca, "I am not equipped to handle five kids and be responsible for picking out a decent picture by myself."  She just laughed.  We both know that she did this for 3-1/2 years while watching our girls.

This morning Kevin was out the door by 7am.  The girls and I had a fun and busy morning.  First we hit Starbucks for an extra strong coffee to get me through the day.  Then we ran by the library to pick some WII games up that I had on reserve.  I just realized that I can check out WII games from the library.  This is great since I hate purchasing something without a test drive first.

After that we hit the mall for Sidney's photo shoot.  She was not really excited about getting her pictures taken, but you would never know from the resulting pictures...

In the words of Sid, "Ta-da"

What a sweet smile.

This one really tells the story.  Have you ever seen such a cute sad face?

Say cheese!

I am not sure exactly why, but this picture of Sidney reminds me so much of her Grandma Terrell.  I really do mean that I am not sure why, because I can tell you one thing...I have never seen Grandma Terrell in a cowboy hat.

My mom was dying to see pictures of Sidney in her pink cowboy boots.  Well mom, I hate to disappoint!

Kendall was the most incredible big sister ever this morning!  She was amazing.  As I mentioned, Sid was not in the mood to have her pictures taken and Kendall was amazing with her.  She tried to coax smiles, showed her what to do, sat quietly while we got things situated and most of all she was willing to accept the "small half" of the only granola bar that I had for bribery.  What a lady!

After the picture, I dragged the girls to Victoria's Secret and then to Macy's to try on new makeup.  They did so awesome at the makeup counter that the lady working there gave them each a mini-makeover.  After all of that, we had worked up an appetite. 

As I am typing this, they are up in their rooms napping.  They will be supercharged by the time their friends get here.  Starbucks - here I come (again)!

As I review this post, I realize that I had forgotten to include my absolute favorite picture of the session.  Sid is not looking at the camera, but I adore it anyways.