Winter Sunday Fun Days

With a fresh coating of snow on the ground, and two girls who slept until 8am again today, we had a great outlet for lots of energy! By 10am, we were outside enjoying the sunshine and rolling around in the snow. 

The girls love to make snow angels....

 Just what we needed: snow paint. I built volcanoes and the girls went to town adding snow for color.

 After getting Regan to/from a friend birthday party at a local gymnastics arena. The girls and I took a trip to the local sledding hill. Let's just say it was Sidney versus the hill.....and the hill one. 

Click HERE to see the proof. 

At the end of the evening, Grandma Jan arrived and the girls were in their glory playing with her. They have barely seen her since Christmas as she was in Texas so they were more than ready to dig in and get some playtime with her. 

Winter Show 2012

Regan participated in her first (and second) Dance Endeveaors winter show(s) today. She was in awe as she watched the big girls dance and loved every second of having attention on her. 

She does very well on stage, no fear at all and really enjoys performing. My little ham. 

After her dance, I brought her into the audience so she could watch with the rest of the family. This show really was amazing; the talent blows my mind.

 This is Regan and her BFF from kindergarten. Yes, her buddy is closer to Sidney's height than Regan's. 

 And our beloved babysitter, Claire. She has been Regan's inspiration to dance. Tonight as I tucked Regan into bed she said "mommy, I think I'm going to dance as long as Claire keeps on dancing". It's nice to have such a great role model! 

I'm working on the video; it should be up and ready tomorrow!

Dancing Queens!

Grandma Sheri has absolutely no idea that I videoed she/Regan dancing to the Wii this afternoon. Fortunately for all the readers, Ryan said "Liz, you HAVE to put that on the blog! And RIGHT NOW!".

Activities

We are in the midst of winter activities around here. Each week we have practices for dance, gymnastics and swimming. It keeps us on our toes but keeps the girls motivated to make it through their respective days at school knowing the fun they will have. 

Sidney simply adores gymnastics. Swinging on the bars, jumping on the tramp, rolling down wedges, cartwheeling and handstanding her way through the evening. My guess is Regan loves it just as much, but I wouldn't know. You see, this lovely 3 year old wants her mama to watch her, at all times. I've jumped over to watch Regan's class in the "big kid gym" next door and disaster struck with tears. So for now, I'll just stay put. 

 What I do know is that Regan is in love with her new dance studio. We have spent 4 months preparing for her recital this weekend. It's a Christmas themed recital (and the studio owner knows enough than to try to pull off a show like this at Christmas time). We've had extra practices each week this month and last night, was the L---O---N---G dress rehearsal. I flash-backed to my days in dance last night, as I sat chatting with the other parents while Regan and her little friends ran around to find the best seat in the auditorium to watch as the big girls showed us their skills. As we chatted before bed, Regan reminded me "I want to dance forever, until I'm big" and I know she was picturing those high school girls in their ballet outfits twirling in unison on stage. Can't wait for her show(s) today! 

Dress Up

We play dress up a lot around here, and sometimes, we all join in on the fun. 

Oh the things I do for my children!

Meeting baby Addie

Our dear friends had a baby last week. While I was able to sneak over to their hospital room for a visit shortly after the birth, Ryan and the girls weren't as lucky. So tonight they finally got a chance to meet her. And boy is that little girl loved. Ryan held her first and Sidney had a complete melt-down. She was not happy to be sharing her daddy....or at least that's what he thought was her problem. Turns out, she was just upset that she had to wait her turn to hold Addie. 

Once Addie was in Sidney's arms, all tears quickly stopped. And Sid was mesmerized by her cuteness. 

 I'm surprised at how well the girls took turns holding all 5 pounds of Addie. What a peanut! So very tiny. They were in love with all that pink; head to toe girls!

 Regan looks so big holding a baby. I'm thinking she would make a good Big Big Sister....what do you say?!  Not happening. Keep dreaming. 

Birthday fun

As a teenager, I remember going to Golden Gate tubing hill with a handful of friends to celebrate my birthday. It was a blast! Minus falling onto my tailbone and bruising it which resulted in sitting in a bean bag for the following days, ouch!....but that's another story :) 

So this year, when Ryan asked what I wanted to do on my birthday, I said "let's take the girls tubing!". Sidney just barely passed the height requirement and didn't meet the age requirement, but no one asked for her birth certificate so we just went with it. 

We had an absolute blast!!! 

 Tubing has come a long way since Golden Gate. This location has lanes, the tubes have handles to hang onto along with a long one to pull, and there's a magic carpet to stand on as it pulls you and your tube back to the top. Here's a view from the top. Think Giant Yellow Slide at the State Fair with 12 lanes. 

 Sometimes all 4 of us hooked together, sometimes Regan and Ryan went solo. Not to fret, Sidney was never on her own; always hooked to mama. 

Below is a video I shot while hooked to Sidney going down one of the more steep hills (yes, there are a few that are faster/steeper than the others). It's hard to see her face, but she's laughing (and brushing away the snow flying into her face). This seriously was a great way to spend a winter birthday!!

And now....it's nap time!

Friday Stations

 Each day I thank my lucky stars for Regan's kindergarten teacher. She is kind, patient, loving and welcoming. The kids love her and so do we. Every other week she puts out a call for volunteer parents/grandparents to help out with "Friday Stations". Once again today, Sidney and I ventured down to school to lend a hand. 

There's always a craft project, math station, snack and a game. Needless to say, she needs a lot of extra hands to help out. Sidney enjoys jumping right in with the class and her teacher comments regularly that Sid will be an old pro when she finally makes it to Kindergarten (in another 2 and a half years....she may be the oldest in her class with her birthday). 

 If Sid's not next to her big sister, she's cuddled up to her big sister's BFF who happens to be about the size of Sidney. Those 3 are like peas in a pod. 

What a great idea! Make a burger with wafers, mint patty, green coconut and frosting for ketchup, mustard and pickles. We even added a little sugar to the wafers and sprinkled sesame seeds on top. The kids thought it was a great treat! 

 And Regan was over the moon in love with the fact that her mom is able to make it to Friday Stations. So am I. I sincerely enjoy getting to know her teacher, her friends and their parents/grandparents. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Baby!

Today I ducked out of the hospital I work at and raced down the street to another one to meet this precious little bundle of joy. A whopping 4 lbs 9 oz beautiful little girl-welcome Adalyn Dawes! Congrats Dooley and Annie! The rest of the family is sooo very excited to see you guys soon! 

Happy Birthday Paxton

We helped Paxton celebrate his 2nd birthday last weekend; complete with a farm animal party. The kids enjoyed running around playing with new toys and wearing farm animal masks.

 Oh who am i kidding, I got in on the fun too :) 

 I think those candles were lit about 15 times to allow all the kids a few chances at blowing them out. I think there was more spit than frosting on the cake in the end. 

 Regan can typically be found near the dogs; Halle, Bella and Nala were there and she was in her glory. Both the kids AND the dogs were pretty wore out by the end of the evening. 

Happy Birthday Paxton! Hope you had a great day!

Regan lately

We are almost half way through the school year and will be receiving report cards in just a few short weeks. Regan is thriving in school; she adores her teacher, loves her classmates and soaks up the lessons like a sponge. Each day she comes home with something new, whether it be a new game she learned in phy ed, a craft project in art or a book read by the librarian. I love that she loves school. It makes our jobs that much easier.
Each night we work on homework, usually a writing activity as she perfects her letters, or a reading/language assignment. Each. And. Every. Night. 

She continues in weekly dance, gymnastics and swimming lessons. I can't say she adores each activity, but we ask if she'd like to quit and she gets upset at the idea of not doing them. So we forge ahead.

 She is generally very easy-going (in the grand scheme of almost 6 year olds); she adjusts quickly in a new environment; tries new activities without much hesitation; though still, to this day, cannot figure out how to "play" with toys. She's never actually been very good at "playing". And now that she has a sister who is 3 (and happens to be very very good at "playing"), we often hear "Sidney, can I play with you?". Regan is not a leader in toy-playing, but at least she knows it and has discovered that her sister's imagination is limit-less when it comes to toys. 

Although give her a clown nose or dress up and she knows exactly what to do: 

And in just one month (and one day), our little clown nose 5 year old will turn 6. She cannot wait for her very first "friend" party! 

Close call to Sesame Street we go!

On Tuesday morning, I received a call from daycare. Sidney was not feeling well, complaining of headaches and a fever was brewing. She spent the afternoon on the couch, spiking fevers close to 103. A quick trip to the doctor gave us no information and therefore, no quick cure (i.e. strep or an ear infection would have given her antibiotics). So ibuprophen was her only friend. 

Thankfully, she woke up this morning feeling like her old self again. Thank goodness because she and I had a very special date planned. It was her big turn to spend a night out with mommy....a night at Sesame Street! 

She was happy as a clam as we watched all of her beloved friends take the stage while singing and dancing. 

And since she isn't one to always take 'nice' pictures, we opted for silly ones instead because we were so darn happy that she was feeling healthy again!

 Before we left home, I reminded Ryan just how outrageously priced these things can be. Not the price of tickets necessarily, but the toys, food and anything else being sold. He said "It's Sidney's day!" and told me to buy whatever she wanted. Well, she picked out a 10 inch stuffed Zoe for $17. Ouch. 

 But she's clearly in love with Zoe and I'm guessing she'll be going along to every tea party, field trip and picnic that Sidney's imagination creates in the coming days. 

Thank you for a wonderful date Sidney! I'm so glad we were able to spend the evening together! 

Outdoor playtime

This winter has been something else. It's January and given our tree still looks like this, I spent some time today raking leaves! Yes, RAKING leaves in January! In Minnesota! Oh how I love Mother Nature sometimes. 

 So I raked and raked and the girls sent both their babies and themselves down the slide into those lovely piles of leaves. In January. Without snowpants or boots. In Minnesota.  

 When we grew bored of the leaves, we moved onto more fun such as t-ball and the parachute. Outdoor fun is just so darn wonderful when it doesn't entail frozen fingers and toes as a result of snow. Don't get me wrong, we'll be sledding sometime soon I'm sure. But for now, I'm going to bask in this wonderful warm winter weather. 

 And tonight we caught up online with Grandma Jan who happens to be basking in some REALLY warm 80-something  degree weather. 

Here's hoping for this mild winter to continue through til spring!

Friday Stations

Regan's classroom holds "Friday Stations" twice/month. Her Kindergarten teacher invites parents/grandparents to help out at various stations as each child spends time working on activities. I really truly enjoy this special one on one time with Regan and love getting to know her friends. Today, however, I didn't have anyone to watch Sidney, and so, her teacher invited Sidney along as well. 

Let's just say she was THRILLED to get to be a part of this time with her big sis and those other 5 and 6 year olds. 

 She spent her time bouncing around the various stations, checking in with me periodically, but mostly sticking next to Regan or one of her friends. She loved being their garbage thrower-awayer and glue-pusher-downer.

I was tasked with the craft table; helping each child assemble their cut pieces into penquins. Their individual penquins turned out so cute and I can't wait to see the final creation that Regan brings home next week. In the meantime, I noticed one thing about Regan's toolbox that stood out from all the 20 other kindergarteners.  Each child has their own box full of crayons, glue and scissors. It is kept in their cubby for activities such as the one above.
This is what Regan's kit always looks like, notice the kit above and you'll know how the other students keep theirs: 

Yes, I do believe she has inherited her mother's organization skills :)  

It's not such a bad thing to inherit I suppose. 

Pile of.....

stuffed animals! 

Regan got a great idea to dump one of the tubs of stuffed animals and act as though it was a giant pile of leaves! The girls had a great time running from the living room into the toy room, picking up speed as they went. It was a great activity for their high energy level this evening. 

Ringing in the New Year....

with new adventures. The girls have been begging to go skating (remember THIS post?).  So with an extra day off from work and school, we took advantage of  the New Year holiday and ventured to a local skating rink. Sidney was pumped that she got to do a big girl activity...until she put on her skates and felt a wee bit wobbly and unable to even walk. But she grabbed a hold of her fears and made it onto the ice!

 Regan was beyond words excited! At first she didn't want to use the red walker, but realized it was going to help out so took turns between going with and going without. She did GREAT!, especially since it was only her second time out on skates. Peer pressure seemed to help, she noticed a classmate on the ice who happens to be a new hockey player. At one point, as she took a break on the side she said to me "mom, ice skating looks easy, but it's REALLY HARD!". 

 She should try going around the rink in a hunched over position like this! Wowzas was my back feeling it after about 10 minutes; I had flashbacks from when we taught each girl how to walk and held their hands in a similar fashion. Eventually today, Sidney opted for me to hold her and skate. Not an easy feat when my blades were rusty...yes, rusty! They could use a quick sharpening before the next adventure. 

 And finally, she had enough and was getting chilly so we got off the ice. Regan kept on skating; she just couldn't get enough.
Skinny Sidney burned off the rest of her energy doing "across the floors" in the cafeteria like waiting area. Perfect room size for her energy level! 

Kids say the darndest things

Today Regan said something like this as she accidentally dropped her camera and asked for my help: 

 "Mom, I just dropped my camera and the batteries flew out. I shut the door to where the batteries go, but it won't work because one battery fell out. And now I can't open the little door again, so do I just drop it again and it will open up?" 

Friends

We hosted a baby shower for some dear friends today, and while we had some shower fun and watched a little football, these 7 energetic sweeties enjoyed every ounce of the toy room. 

 Sid was giving me some playful attitude after I asked her to pose; thanks Sidney!

 The stars of the show: Annie and Dooley, hanging out with the girls after a day of shower fun :) We're looking forward to their baby GIRL to join the ranks of sequence, heels and feathers! She has some good role models! 

Happy New Year 2012

Today we took the girls over to Como Zoo to celebrate New Years (at noon). But first, we took in the animals and again, the favorite was the polar bear who was putting on quite the act. 

 The girls posed nicely for a picture on the giraffes

 And then we headed inside to be a part of the countdown, "ball dropping" experience! Although the crowd was a little overwhelming to all of us, it was such a fun event that we'll be sure to head back again in the coming years!

 Thanks to some wonderful people, each girl scored their own "ball". 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!