Vocabulary

Isn't this face cute?

Tonight she learned a 4 letter word.

Ryan gave the girls baths and afterwards noticed a stain on the carpet in Regan's room....likely that dreaded make-up she's discovered.

He said a 4 letter word, Sidney heard and repeated it.

Again, and again, and again, and again.

You get the picture.

How could we get upset at that sweet face?, she didn't have a clue what she was saying. As Kari said, let's just hope she forgets the word before heading back to school next week!

Color, color, color everywhere

Have I mentioned how much Regan loves the arts? She is in love with markers, crayons, pens and pencils. Oh yea, and she loves the messy stuff too like watercolor, paints, spray art, etc. We've recently noticed how much her coloring abilities have improved and tonight I took a picture of her in the act. Notice how she consistently stays in the lines, finishes coloring almost an entire object with the same color and pays attention to details? She never ceases to amaze us!

Wednesday Game Night

Wednesday nights we are blessed to be joined by Ryan's cousin, Logan, for dinner and some play time with the girls. Tonight, Regan anxiously waited for Logan to come through the door and was all set up to play Connect 4. After playing the game, they opted to stack the checkers in various patterns and graciously allow Sidney to karate chop down their tower. It was quite the sight to watch all those checkers fly across the living room floor!

Sidney had fun playing Candy Land with Ryan. I think he and I were both impressed at her abilities to play this game. At not even 2 1/2 yrs, she does considerably well following the game rules...however, she needs a few lessons in turn taking. I think it was Sidney's turn for about 5 minutes before Ryan got to turn over a card!

Together

This family is chomping at the bit to get outdoors and spend some quality time together. Tonight we opted to walk up the street to the bank (on a side note, they frown on biking/walking through the drive through: lesson learned). It's a good walk uphill and then a fun one down on the way home! Regan was so happy flying down the hill :) We got home and Ryan had to climb onto the roof to retrieve a flashlight apparently left by the folks that cleaned our chimney (we're guessing it was buried by snow all winter long?!). Afterwards, Regan climbed the ladder with Ryan's help, she looked up on the roof and declared "we could eat lunch up here!". I think she's longing for more outdoor together time!

Ah, but soon enough my little one, we will eat every meal on the deck and come inside only long enough to sleep. I too, cannot wait!

Gazing

We spotted deer in the park across the street enjoying dinner last night. We quickly pulled the girls out of the tub to take a peek; it's not every day that they get to see deer essentially in their front yard.

I had to turn the flash off on the picture...as you can kind of see, Sidney is flashing the world after shedding her towel while gazing out the window. That girl has no modesty!

Sunday funday

We had a busy weekend full of good friends, good food and good times. So today we spent the day just hanging out at home (minus a few hours that Ryan had to go into work). None of us are happy to still have piles of snow in the yard, and Sidney is constantly yelling at the snow "go away show (aka: snow), so we can go swimming!". Too bad the snow isn't listening.

The girls found lots of icicles to snack on

A shrub at the corner of the house is just loaded with them! It sounded like glass shattering when Regan shook the bush and the icicles crashed onto the rocks below.

Sidney crunched on a few icicles too

And then we headed out for a walk, scooter ride, and car ride trying to soak in some Vitamin D.

I love these kind of days. I think Ryan would say the same...minus the whole 'go-to-work-in-the-middle-of-the-day-on-a-Sunday' part.

Fun with friends

I am fortunate to have a wonderful group of girlfriends from college. We still manage to find time to squeeze in an afternoon together in the chaos of all of our lives. Getting a group picture seems harder than actually getting us together! Notice we're missing Sidney?! She was not interested in this picture and was around Ryan's feet (who was taking the picture). I could try to photoshop her in I suppose :) We're missing a few friends too, but not because they weren't interested in the photo, it's hard to get us ALL in the same house at the same time, but I'm glad we keep trying!

Books and tears

Both girls love to look and "read" books, especially Sidney. Seems like this age is when both girls love(d) sitting with a pile of books and "reading" them on their own. Regan seems to now prefer that we actually read to her, but can also be found throughout the day looking through books. Sidney took a shortened nap today *sigh* but played like this (see below) for an hour while I made a dessert and cleaned up the kitchen. Bless her heart!

Regan woke up 2 hours later....have i mentioned that this kid naps like a champ?, and found her own little spot to read. Unfortunately, we quickly went from this....

to this.

I can't really be sure how it all happened, but that big crocodile tear under her right eye made me so incredibly sad.

Until I realized those tears were her way of begging me to use MY camera. Sorry sweetie, those tears aren't going to work.

Flashback Friday

Look closely and you'll see, they are both having fits.

It's been like that lately, apparently winter does this to them.

Regan's working on testing her limits with authority.

Sidney...., well, she's just being a two year old trying to figure out the world.

Bless their hearts.

We still love them to pieces!!!

Party weekend

Regan had yet another birthday to attend today, this time for a family friend's son and her good buddy, Reagan. She had so much fun swimming and playing at a local indoor playground that she was exhausted and fell asleep on the drive home!

While Regan was gone for the entire afternoon, Sidney and I found plenty to keep us busy. But we missed that 5 year old girl who likes to tease her sister and steal toys. Sidney had to wear her swim suit all afternoon because she knew Regan was swimming and wanted to be just like her.

So she ironed in just her suit...

but added a sweat shirt when it came time to bake some cookies. Apparently she finally got cold.

We even went shopping, and yes, she wore her suit under her clothes!

Spring has sprung

With consistent temps in the 40's and pushing 50 the past few days, I was more than ready to take on the puddles instead of the snow. Let washing machine failure ruin my day. So much for being able to wash all those wet clothes. Plan B: Go outside but attempt to stay fairly clean. While Regan headed out to a birthday party, Sidney and I took on Plan B. We went for a walk with snow boots, not really stopping to splash, and then played on our playset. Her pants got dirty but her jacket and hat stayed clean. Yea!

Too bad we later went shopping and I became victim of a hit and run (we're both ok, we stopped at a red light and the dude behind me decided his imaginary light turned green!?). Once we made it into the store, Sidney fell victim to a very mean boy who rudely walked up to her and pulled her pony tail! Oh the joys of a Saturday afternoon.

The oldest of the group earned a 'white belt' at her friend's birthday party; we should have had her with to protect us this afternoon!! Ryan tells me that during a break at the party, he spotted Regan with her (adorable lovely boyfriend) Ben holding hands! How stinkin' cute is that. Well, Ryan doesn't think it's cute, he's already picturing her at 16.

I think at church tomorrow we'll pray for a better day!

Trouble

Today wasn't a great day for these two. They were on each other's backs ALL. DAY. LONG. You would think after spending the last 3 days in their respective school rooms, away from each other for the entire day, that they would be thrilled to spend the day playing together....right? Not so much. I blame part of it on me/Sid still under the weather with colds and the other part on winter. It warmed up this afternoon so we spent almost 2 hours playing outside, not without a little (or a lot) of whining and a few arguments. But we were outside and I was doing my best to hold it all together.

We did have to eventually come back inside because it was getting hard to breathe for the mama with a cold. Here the arguing between the cuties continued. This time, over a chair. We have 2 identical chairs at the art table. They both wanted the same one. Good grief, they sure challenge me some days.

Finally, the tantrum throwing 2 year old of the group pulled it together and was able to join us in an art activity and a short while later daddy came home so HE could deal with all their shenanigans for a while. I needed a break!

But at the end of the day, I love these two hair pulling, kicking, screaming, tantrum throwing girls more than anything. I just hope these years aren't a precursor to adolescence!

Flashback Friday

This winter carrier was the best piece of baby gear I had for Sidney (seeing as though I had a toddler on the move who needed outdoor time). It was stinkin' adorable and we got lots of compliments.

Busy days

The girls had another fun filled day today. We traveled to grandma's house so Ryan could have a father/son bonding time at a local fish fry.

Sidney played checkers with Grandma Jan...of course, you know who won.

While these two "knuckle heads" got into trouble...

...running around and putting post it notes on anything they could find! Something tells me that Grandma Sheri is going to find these for the next few days in very unusual spots. They were everywhere!, and in every room!

I tried to lower this one's temp with a bath; she got another bug and when I ask her what hurts, she just lays her hand on her head and looks at me. Poor girl.

Ahh, but Grandma Sheri had bath paints and wouldn't you know it,

Sidney discovered how to make a mess in the tub!

Just another Friday

It's a blessing to have one extra day each week with these two sweethearts. And today, like any other Friday, we made the most of our day as "just the girls". Despite needing to run a few errands, we found time to play with lots of toys and arts and spend a good deal of the afternoon outside! Here's a recap....

Regan mastered the technique of 'spray art' and made a few masterpieces; this proved too difficult for Sidney which was fine by me as she's sporting yet another terrible respiratory virus and I'd rather she not share.

Next it was on to "dress up" where clearly Sidney is ready for some sunny weather with her lei and shades (just a note, they aren't really sunglasses, those are her 3D glasses from the movie a couple weekends ago!).

After lunch with dad and a waiting for a tune up on the car, there was only a short nap from the wee one of the group; Regan remains our SUPER napper going 3+ hours on non-school days! We needed a quiet activity so play-doh it was! She is just so darn creative it really amazes me.

Finally, we made it outside! Mid-40's appears to be a temp that we can live with.

After some time in the snow, we found the color bubbles Regan received for her birthday. Color bubbles....the best invention ever!!------or not. Keep reading.

Crayola needs to stick to actual crayons/markers/paint. Their color bubbles are thick and drip everywhere and were too difficult for either girl to actually produce a bubble. Big disappointment :( Not to mention a huge mess! Sidney quickly switched to chalk.

We pulled out the typical bubbles and Regan had a great time chasing bubbles around the yard giggling and laughing as she stumbled over her snow pants and over piles of snow.

And finally a short walk to end the afternoon. Regan did an awesome job with her scooter; don't tell her pediatrician that she wasn't wearing her helmet; it's locked in the shed behind piles of snow.

Now doesn't that just exhaust you!? And yes, it's what we do every Friday:

make the most of a day as "just the girls" as Regan likes to point out.

For the love of...

...Amy! Our girls just adore their Aunt Amy. Maybe it's her fun clothes, or her beautiful jewelry or maybe it's because she loves to talk about dolls, coloring or whatever else a 5 and 2 year old want to discuss while making them feel like the best 5 and 2 year olds in the world! Whatever it is, they sure want to "love her up" whenever she comes around.

It's obvious that we've come a long way since the baby stages!

Unfortunately for Sidney, when Amy is around, it also means Shane is too, and unless we want pictures like above, it's best that she not get too close!

Disney Princess + Grandma Sheri ==

Equals one incredibly spoiled little girl!

Part of Regan's birthday present from Grandma Sheri were tickets to Disney on Ice-Princess Classic. They were so excited to see this event, it was so adorable! Regan loved every second of the show, according to Grandma, who reportedly had just as much fun watching Regan as she did watching the show. Regan continues to be in love with every princess that Disney has to offer: Tinker, Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, you name it, she loves each and every one of them. And as scared as Ryan was to let his mom take Regan into the Target Center without either her mom or dad by her side (he was completely afraid that Grandma would lose Regan), they stuck together and there was nothing to be concerned about.

Grandma spent oodles of money on all sorts of over-priced toys and snacks but I don't think she'd have it any other way. They're already talking about the next show they want to see!

Regan inspects her Ariel wand

Cotton candy came complete with a crown!

And yes, she attended the event in her Cinderella dress!

Thanks for a very memorable day....for both of you!

Think spring!

This morning, Grandma Sheri and I took the girls over to Como Conservatory where we enjoyed the nice warm sunlight from inside the sunken garden and surrounding rooms. It was a beautiful reminder that spring is on the way....right?!

Here's a few snapshots from the morning: