Milestones

My little baby is growing up. And I'm coming to terms with it....or not. Today, Regan will "graduate" from preschool and I just know I'm going to be a puddle in the middle of the auditorium when she sings with her classmates about growing up, all she's learned and that wonderful statement "Kindergarten, here we come!" Oh heavens. What happened to my baby girl?

Before Regan was born, we searched and searched for the right daycare provider. Having swore we found the best, she set out into a home daycare at the wee age of 4 months. Let's just say, sometimes the best needs a little tweaking. After 2.5 years, we moved her with ease to her current school and our only regret is not enrolling her sooner!

The amount of information that her 3,4,5 year old brain has received (and retained!) is unbelievable. From letters, to reading sight words, and numbers, to adding and subtracting, there is no doubt that she has learned more through her school than she would have in her former daycare. (Now you know why we feel so fortunate!). She is blessed to be around licensed teachers 3 full days/week: licensed! Singing, dancing, Spanish, social skills, consequences and respect. But more than we are proud of her, she is proud of herself. She is confident, makes friends easily and one happy little girl.

Congratulations Regan! We are so proud of you.

Spring cleaning

Our pool is officially open!! Although it'll be a lonely party if you want to swim; a wee bit frigid at this time :) Ryan suggested we start a tradition on opening day that includes a quick swim (think Polar Plunge)...um "sure honey, I'll follow your lead"!

Here are a few before/after shots.

*sigh*, it was a dirty dirty mess.

Before........................................................After

Surprise outing

Today we set out for a surprise adventure. The girls questioned us for an hour as we got ready to head out the door and then drove to our destination with questions of "where are we going?, where mom?". It was pretty fun. This outdoor play land is a quick 15 minute drive down the street, but you'd think it was 2 hours of waiting. Once we pulled into the parking lot, Regan screamed "CHUTES AND LADDERS!" and as Ryan pulled into a parking spot, she unbuckled herself and opened the door just as he tossed the car into park. You can see by this picture, she was off and running ahead of the rest of us!

Up and down, round and round we went. The girls exhausted themselves with playtime. Unfortunately, we're slightly over-protective and just couldn't let Sidney wander on her own (there are actually parents who sit and watch while their 2 year olds explore the complex on their own), so I was just as exhausted as the girls. Ryan got to keep tabs on Regan...his job was to watch from below as she flew out of this slide.

Down the hill is the beautiful "reserve" and it makes a good backdrop for pictures.

Not to mention a good place to catch your breath from so much up and down and round and round.

These girls wear me out, but we have so much fun together that I wouldn't have it any other way.

And after a quick break, Ryan and Regan raced back up the hill for more playtime!

And it was a lot more up and down and round and round!

Singing in the rain

Or maybe it's just "Sidney in the rain"!

Flowers everywhere

This year, I vowed not to have flowers everywhere because by the time July rolls around, it's been clear in years past that I want nothing to do with watering, weeding or tending to.

I'm failing in my vow.

I just can't help myself, and the girls really do love planting flowers with me. Looks like Ryan will add watering to his "honey do" list this summer....nothing new, right honey!?

We are, however, going to keep it to a minimum, or so I hope.

Ryan couldn't have said it better "they look better when they are all in bloom".

S-I-D

This is the face of Sidney. It really shows off her bubbly, happy personality.

She's the girl with loads of energy.

Waking daily around 6:30 (if we're lucky it's 7am), eager to get going and play.

She makes friends with little folks wherever we seem to venture.

The things that come out of her mouth have us laughing for hours.

Definitely the 2nd child...no problems sticking up for herself.

Loves babies, barbies, bubbles, baking and bubble gum.

Officially knows how to pump herself on a swing. Truly amazing.

Independent to the max; no more helping for those self-care tasks.

So excited to be in preschool: learning, engaging, sharing and playing.

One of the loves of my life!

Future ball player

The 2011 t-ball season is in full swing. Regan had her first game on Team Pink tonight and we couldn't be more proud of her. She really does play her heart out....most of the time.

First position for her tonight was First Base.
Lots of action and lots of practice throwing the ball in to the catcher.

She then got to try out playing catcher.

Clearly, not her favorite position!

I'm eager for them to try pitching to her. She's definitely mastered good hitting off the tee.

And what should the little sisters of the team do during the game?

Why, play with a tin full of princesses that I thankfully remembered to toss into the car.

Stormy evening

We had a bit of a stormy evening so far. The clouds were amazing....but I'm glad they stayed cloud-like instead of funnel-like. It doesn't sound so fortunate for all of the metro and I'm seeing that the stormy evening is no where near over.

(close up of the clouds on the left in the above picture)

Lots of lightening and I caught one strike on film before heading back inside.

Tornado warnings have expired for now. Girls are tucked into bed though Regan is incredibly nervous. That little girl takes after her mommy with that fear; needless to say, the nearby bathroom light is brightly shining to reassure her.

Love and flowers

Last night the girls asked Ryan to buy some flowers while we were out at the store. They picked out the adorable pink bouquet on the left and I figured those were my Mother's Day flowers. Then this morning, as he dashed out to pick up Caribou, he surprised me by coming home with the big bouquet on the right. He must really love us!

(pardon the photo...it was the end of the day and both me/Regan (and Ryan) are fully suffering from allergies and it's pretty obvious by my red eyes/no eye make up)

Happy Mother's Day!!

It's Mother's Day, and as I do every year on Mother's Day, I vowed not to do any cleaning, shopping, housework or yardwork today. It can be a struggle, and I did happen to spend 15 minutes in Sidney's closet weeding out clothing but it was out of necessity and the girls were happily playing school as though they were finally best friends.

Before lunch, we headed out to Minihaha Falls for a hike, or should I say stroll, around the park. Best part, we beat the rain.

Here's our morning in pictures:

(this is one of my most favorite shots...just look at Regan with that camera!)

Ice cream at the Falls, and Shane, this picture is for you :)

Sidney has learned the whole "nay nay boo boo, you can't catch me"

I love my family and the love that these two girls give to me everyday is overwhelming!

Happy Mother's Day!

Flowers

The girls are ecstatic to discover dandelions this spring. Ryan's not too happy that they keep bringing them onto our yard but I couldn't resist their request yesterday: "Mommy, can we go across the street to pick dandelions for you?". Why yes, girls, let's go!

Getting a picture of the two of them was a feat not to be won.

Beautiful weather: Beautiful girl

We stumbled upon a park this morning not far from home. Regan was off playing with a new friend so Sidney let me chase her with the camera. Love spring pictures!

School, friends, fun

I've mentioned multiple times how much we love sending the girls to their school 3 days/week. And it's receiving pictures like this that make me love it even more. With all that she's learned, her teachers help remind everyone that it's not all seriousness and homework.

Regan will participate in preschool graduation in just 2 short weeks and she's been singing various tunes for the program. Occasionally, she'll bust into song "Kindergarten here we come, we know we'll have lots of fun...". She's so excited to stand up on stage in front of lots of family; I for one know that I won't be able to maintain dry eyes.

My little girl is growing up!

Tball practice

Tonight Regan went to her second t-ball practice of the 2011 season. She was incredibly excited, just look at that face!

We have obviously come a long way since last year. Click HERE for a reminder.

Instead of staring at the ball, she ran after it.

Instead of playing in the sand, she moved it off the plate/mound with her shoe.

Instead of running to 3rd base after a hit, she ran to 1st.

I'm impressed!

She clearly loves to be a part of a team. She cheers on her teammates, chatters with them, and simply adores meeting new friends.

GO TEAM!

Spring evening with Logie

It's t-ball folks!

Before I get to t-ball, let me re-cap how we spent the afternoon...in the warmth of indoors! Regan wrapped up the 2010-2011 dance season with her final dance class tonight. She received an award for attendance (missing only once when we were out of town for her birthday celebration). Yes ma'am, I'm one heck of a chauffeur, come rain, snow, sleet and blizzards! The girls also watched their performance from yesterday as well as ran through all 3 routines they had learned throughout the year. Pretty darn cute.

And did I mention it was warm?

Because this, my friend, was NOT warm!

I think the local city leagues are forgetting that it's T-BALL folks!! Not collegiate level ball we're playing. We froze our little tushies off during the 60+ minute t-ball practice.

First the girls practiced running the bases. Because in t-ball, those 4-5 year olds aren't always sure which way to run. So they practice :)

Again, pretty darn cute.

Then it was throwing and hitting. Nice work girls!

Now if only the weather would cooperate to moving on to the next season.

Dear Mother Nature, we here in Minnesota are ready for spring!

Spring dance show 2011

Regan participated in her spring dance show today; Cowgboy Sweetheart was the name of her song. She did an amazing job and we are so proud of her!

click HERE to watch a video of her performance

And after the show, she posed for a picture with me. Yes, I too danced today. This winter I joined a group of 15 other moms to learn a dance and show the girls that dancing can really be a lifelong activity! We had a great time, I'm so glad I joined the fun.

Once we returned home, the girls had a dance party in the toy room!

Sidney's skirt was so cute as she twirled and shook her booty to the music in her head!

All that dancing makes a 2 year old hungry; she polished off some chips/dip and then managed to eat her entire dinner! She was famished. At one point during the show, she leaned over and asked Grandma Sheri "do you have a snack because I'm really hungry!" And for the record, I did bring her a snack, she just didn't want that snack. Stinker.

Fun with the grandmas!