Wednesday, December 26, 2012

My Baby Girl is FIVE!!

FIVE!!
 
 
 
Megan on the day she was born.
 
 
 
ONE

 
 
TWO

 
 
THREE

 
 
FOUR

 
 
 
This year, Megan insisted on a "girls only" birthday party. Since we don't know very many girls her age (she is one of only three in her class at Pre-K) we decided this was the perfect opportunity for an at-home birthday parties. I had become spoiled by planning their parties outside the home because the places took care of most of the stuff and I didn't have to clean my house before or after a party.  She wanted a princess theme so we went all out and did a Princess Tea Party. We rented youth-sized tables and chairs and set up a fancy party for them in what was once our dining room. (The dining room has since been re-purposed as a play room and the furniture is now, sadly, in storage.)  Complete with the Barbie princess cake they always scream about when we pass through a bakery. We had fantastic weather for a December in North Texas and the girls spent most of the time running around outside in the backyard, riding bikes, power wheels, and knocking the piss out of a butterfly pinata.  
 

 
 
We also decided to splurge a little on some guest entertainment since we were saving money on the party itself.  Rapunzel made a surprise guest appearance and the girls were just elated!! She told them a story and sang songs so they could dance around. Megan didn't know she was coming, otherwise she may have chosen to wear her Rapunzel costume instead of her new Ariel costume but she wasn't upset about that. 




 

Friday, December 14, 2012

October Life - as normal as it gets!

The girls continued with Gymnastics. I have so much fun watching them learn new things. When Emily started almost one year ago, she couldn't even jump with both feet off the floor. Now, she is jumping off beams and landing on her feet. She is becoming increasingly more confident every week and is growing up to be such a big girl!! Don't get me wrong, she still has her moments and sometimes even refuses to go into class, but ultimately she doesn't want to quit. Megan is really picking it up. Her cartwheels are getting straighter and she is also gaining confidence. A year ago, she would go from one thing to the next, and wait for instruction from her coach. Now, pays attention and knows what she is supposed to do without too much prompting. Sometimes I wonder when she's going to "get it" and other times I am amazed at what they have my just-turned-5-year-old doing.
 



We also took a short dip into dance. Long enough for me to put a deposit down on recital costumes but short enough for me to lose said deposit. The girls were too busy and something had to give. Truth be told, the only reason I agreed to let them do dance AND gymnastics was because they both originally said they wanted to quit gym instead. I would rather they do gymnastics than dance - no recital costumes or shoes so it's a little less expensive!  Somehow, gymnastics seems more of a sport, even if you do dance for Miss Abby Lee!  ha ha!

 
 
One thing remains constant. Megan loves soccer and she loves her team. I think she excels more in the indoor arena, though I'm not sure why. It's always fun to watch her play and she improves with every game. It's like a little light flips on in her mind and she realizes what she should be doing on the field. Emily wasn't really all that in to soccer but she wants to play again in the Spring and is really anxious to start. Lucky for us, we don't start until February so she's still "on break" from her soccer work out. 

 
 
And then there's Halloween.  Megan wanted to be "Rapunzel Wedding" from Tangled Ever After, the short where Rapunzel and Eugine/Flinn get married. She said it for months and stuck with her costume, no matter what (and looked darn cute). Emily, on the other hand, wanted to be Merida with the green dress. She wore it once, to KDO Trunk or Treat, and I didn't even get a picture of it! The picture below is of her in the blue Merida dress headed to school for their Costume Parade and Halloween Party.  Megan is in her Rapunzel dress, complete with veil, flowers and ring!!



 
Which leads us all the way to the end of October and time for Trick or Treating!!  Emily has changed her mind, once again. I think she just likes to dress up and accessorize and it's just passe to wear the same costume twice. Who knows but I think we might be in trouble when that little girl REALLY starts caring about her wardrobe. She already has more shoes than I do.  Travesty.  Oh! And look who finally got a picture on this post!!  Our little train engineer!!  He wouldn't wear the hat or the bandanna so really he is just in overalls and a shirt. I stuck a train whistle in his back pocket to try to make the costume. After we walked the neighborhood begging for sugar, the girls wanted to pass out candy at our house so they set up shop on the steps. They were stingy with it to. I think they were keeping it for themselves.



 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

October in Dallas = State Fair of Texas!

We are lucky to live in the DFW area where the great State Fair of Texas is every fall. It just means it is fall! Football, fried food, cooler weather (well, kind of) and taking out a second mortgage just to afford the food and rides at the fair. The girls absolutely LOVE going and get so excited every year. We kept Megan out of school on a Friday this year so we could go but the poor girl woke up with a fever so we stayed home. Lucky us, we were able to go on Sunday and the crowds weren't too terrible.
 
 



 
 
They are getting so big. Soon, they won't need us to ride the rides with them.
I'll just get to ride because I want to, not because I have to.

 
 
Matthew was so cute looking at the train display. James put him up on his shoulders and his jaw just dropped when the trains went by. It was so funny. He was just in awe and so excited!!

 
 
The stilt walker dressed as a tree. Megan just wanted to take a pic with him and thought he was really cool. Em wasn't so sure. We watched him sneak up on people and they would scream and run. Good times (and a little bit of air conditioning) before we headed to heart attack alley for some yummy fried food!




Our potty break took us into the car show building. The girls absolutely LOVED getting in and out of every car they passed. Megan even fastened her seat belt!

 

 
 
I am really glad we made it before Big Tex burned. He caught fire the following Friday. I would have been traumatized for life if I had witnessed that. Kinda like watching a puppy burn or something.
OK - well maybe not that bad - but still ...
Me and Big Tex, we go way back!


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

A Starke September

 
Aren't they all the cutest little popsicle-eaters you've ever seen?

 
 
First day of Pre-School!!
Megan is in the PreK Class. They're the Wolves, and all the kids are 5 by December 31st. There are only 2 other kids that are her age. The other 11 are all "Red Shirt Kindergartners".
Emily is in the 3's class. They're the Frogs and they are right across the hall from Megan's class, which makes drop off a lot easier. Megan was a Frog last year so they already know Emily.
Next year, Matthew will be going and what will I do with my time?

 
The school/church is under construction. The kids all like to stop and look at the big trucks but it gets really loud and dusty. The new church is really coming along. I don't know what I will do when we actually have to kneel during Mass again but it sure will be nice to have enough room for everyone.




 
The new soccer season also started. Megan returned to the Lil Angels for another season.




Emily is also playing this year. Her team was lucky to get PURPLE jerseys and their name is Sprinkles!!  How cute is that? Oh, and the best part, James is their coach. Despite not being a soccer player, he did a great job and was very patient with a team of 8 little 3 year olds.
 




The ice cream trucks park at the soccer field.
Smart.
 

 
 
Just another night at our house!


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Labor Day at Great Wolf Lodge

We are very lucky to live about 35 minutes from Great Wolf Lodge. This place is definitely one of the coolest places on earth. We celebrated Mother's Day there, went back for Father's Day, and took a last minute Labor Day trip there too. James had taken off the whole week following Labor Day and the girls didn't start school until the following week so we were able to go for Monday and Tuesday nights. The place was EMPTY because all the area schools had already started the new year. I think they were running around 7% occupancy. We had the place to ourselves.  This was the girls' first trip to their kid's spa, Scoooops. They had fun ... and the nail polish was mostly gone by that night. Money well spent, yes? At least they got the royal treatment with the plush robes, fancy scented lotions, sparkly nail polishes and a tiara to keep. Bubby slept in the stroller the whole time. He was worn out from swimming and was badly in need of a nap.
 
 

 
 
Included with the spa services were coupons for free ice cream. Yeah, I got to eat Em's ice cream and she had a cupcake. We love sweet treats at Great Wolf!

 
 
We also played games. They have a huge arcade that was being remodeled during our first stay. Below, Megan is pulling the arm of her first slot machine.


 
 
Photo Op on the big wooden bear. The girls are running around with their magic wands. We didn't do a Quest (game) but they were still able to light things up and make statues talk.

 
 
After their bedtime story at the clock tower they got to meet Violet, their favorite because she's a girl.


 
Fun in the water!!

 
More fun in the arcade!


 
 
Good times were had by all. Not too many pics of Matthew but I promise he had fun too. So much so that we went back for Thanksgiving.  More on that later. I still have a couple months to cover before we get there.