Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!

I'm sure that I'll have more pictures to post later, but here is how we started our day -

Ready for school!

Sisters with matching ribbons!

An extra dose of cheese!

Check back later for more photos from Strawberryland (that's a preview of their costumes for this year!)

Four

Happy Birthday to our sweet SleepingAngel. 


She'd be 4 today if we were lucky enough to have her with us.  Instead she is sleeping in God's hands - waiting for us to join her when it is our time.

Two sisters sitting on the couch.

The baby that wasn't supposed to make it out of the delivery room.

Sleeping - holding onto the necklace that her big sister made for her.

We miss you sweet baby.  And we'll never forget you.

Rapunzel's Crown

Three Rapunzel's

A few days ago the girls and I did a craft from Family Fun magazine.  They had a good time and the crowns came out pretty cute.


TinyDancer made hers look just like the real crown - complete with the jewel in the back.

Jewel in the back

EasternStar was very proud of the job she did "all by herself".

All by myself!!

Check out my shoes!

I made RainbowBaby's for her -

The girls had a good time and even Daddy joined in.

 

Cute little hands



How cute are these little hands?


Today was EasternStar's first real day of preschool.  Technically they started yesterday, but it was an abbreviated day.  Half of the class came for 1 hour and did 10 minutes of each activity.  Then the second half of the class came later for 1 hour and did the same thing. Today the entire class went for the full 2.5 hours.

I wish that I could have been there to see her off.  Sadly I had to work and Stranger was the lucky one to take her and pick her up.  It sounds like she had a great day and made this picture all by herself.  She was most excited that she used the potty and got to have her cheese & pretzels at school.

I am so excited for her to start something new all by herself.  She is really growing into her role as a "big kid" and sometimes wants to do things on her own.  I hope that school will help build her confidence in herself and her skills.  If nothing else, I hope that going to school will teach her that Yes, she can pull down her own pants, climb on the potty, wipe, pull her pants up and then wash her hands.  All. by. herself.  Please God.  If nothing else, let us finish the year mastering using the potty alone.  8 )

Second day of first grade

Here are some photos of our second day of first grade.  I love this cute sweater.  Although I don't really get it.  It's a sweater .... but it has short sleeves.  Why would they make a short sleeved sweater?  Shouldn't sweaters have long sleeves?  If it is cold enough to wear a sweater,  shouldn't you be wearing long sleeves?  Won't your arms be cold?  And on the other .... errr - arm ..... If it is warm enough for short sleeves, won't you be hot in a sweater??  That's my thought to ponder today..... on to the pics!

Second favorite "go to" pose.

How cute are those shorts - right?  And those completely impractical for running around at recess but adorable shoes?

Goofing off while waiting to leave for school.

Adorable!

I hope that her second day is as great as her first!


To celebrate the end of summer, tonight TinyDancer and EasternStar are packing their bags and heading to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Tomorrow they are headed to the track to make us some money! bet on the ponies see the horseraces while RainbowBaby, Stranger, and I get to make up for goofing off during the past few weeks and catch up on laundry and clean.

First day of first grade!

Yesterday was TinyDancer's first day of 1st grade.  Can you believe how grown up she looks in her uniform?

Proud first grader!



Don't you love that pose?  That is TinyDancer's new "go to" pose.  Lately the only photos that I have of her include that pose.  And don't you LOVE those knee socks??  She is very proud of them!

The kids have been excited to see summer come to a close and get back into the groove of school.  EasternStar doesn't start for a few more weeks (which she is very put out about...) and TinyDancer has been counting down the days.

Here are some more pics of the morning -  

French braid for her hair.

Only RainbowBaby was up early enough to say good-bye.  EasternStar woke up and immediately asked for TinyDancer.  She was not happy that TinyDancer got to go to school while she had to stay home.  8 )

Right before the scramble to leave for school / work.

We brought her teacher this cute plant -

Plant.

Card.

TinyDancer had a great first day and was full of excitement when she came home.  We're looking forward to a great school year!

Rainbow Birthday



What type of first birthday party could a RainbowBaby have other than a Rainbow Party of course?  We had a simple party for RainbowBaby - just cake and presents in the backyard - but what a cake it was!  I found several cool examples of rainbow cakes online and had to try my hand at making one. 

Birthday cake - outside

RainbowBaby blowing out her candle.

Birthday cake - inside
How fun is that?

RainbowBaby even got her own rainbow cake all to herself!

What do I do with this?

Eat it???

In addition to cake, we had umbrella and raindrop cookies and cupcakes with suns on them. 

Umbrella and raindrop sugar cookies.  Yum!

Sunshine cupcakes

The cupcakes didn't turn out exactly as I'd pictured them in my head.  I used those sugar covered orange slices that you find in the candy aisle.  I flattened them with a rolling pin and then cut them into strips.  Some of them got stretched out making them look kind of like octopuses (or octopi? or an octopus?)

We also had party hats and decorations.  I loved the idea of making these tissue paper flowers, but then discovered that we didn't have anywhere to put them.  Oh well - they looked fun on the fence!

Birthday girl in a party hat!

We had so much fun that the birthday girl fell asleep in her swing! 

Oh when the mighty fall!

I can't believe that it's been a year!  Well, over a year now......RainbowBaby is 15 months old!










Skating camp - Solo Program

At last!  My video software and you.tu.be are done fighting and I was able to upload TinyDancer's solo program. 

Enjoy!

Questions that are better left unasked - Part 1

I think that I'm going to start a new series on my blog called "Questions that are better left unasked".  The first question will be:

1.  Why is Barbie floating in the toilet? 


Every kid needs a special place to store their stuff right?  A place that their siblings aren't allowed to (or won't) invade to steal their stuff.  Well, RainbowBaby seems to have chosen her "special place".  It's not behind the couch or under a bed or even in a potted plant.  Nope.  She's chosen a throne.  A glorious throne that unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your outlook) no one wants to reach in to remove stuff. 

In the past few days I've removed a comb, a book (sorry Nina Nina Ballerina), a crayon, and today a Barbie from the toilet.  Thankfully we've finally gotten my six year old to start flushing again and my three year old can't climb onto the potty by herself.  Otherwise we'd have some real.... uh.....prizes on our hands!

Skating Camp - Off ice program

Can you handle any more videos? 


I only have two more from skating camp.  Below is the off ice program that TinyDancer learned.  In addition to skating, they worked on stretching and ballet and a few other off ice things.  I think that TinyDancer enjoyed the dancing part as much as the skating!

Skating Camp - All Camp Program

I posted yesterday the skating program that TinyDancer learned with her class at skating camp.  They also learned a program that included everyone that participated in the camp.  TinyDancer has decided that she does not like synchro skating because it is "too hard".  8 )  I'm sure that it is hard when you have girls at different levels all trying to do the same thing. 

I hope that the video doesn't make you too queasy.  I was taping and RainbowBaby kept hitting my videoing arm.  8 )

Enjoy!

Skating Camp - Group Program

A few weeks ago, TinyDancer attended a week long skating camp.  She had a blast!  Each girl that attended learned a program of their own and each class learned a program.  For some reason her solo program didn't upload to y.ou.tube correctly.  Below is the group program that her class learned.  I think that they are skating to 'California Girls' by Katy Perry.  OMG I am not ready for her to start listening to that type of music!  8 )

Enjoy!

First skating competition

TinyDancer started taking skating lessons in September. She has decided that she is going to be an Olympic figure skater and an Olympic gymnast and ballet dancer and a singer and a 'mom that works' (as opposed to a 'mom that stays at home') and a bunch of other things. She has also promised that she is going to live at home forever and get up with me everyday and help me make breakfast and then make the beds. I love that she has both the confidence and the innocence to believe that it is possible to do all of these things at the same time. She started taking private lessons right around January and had her first competition in March.

I love watching her skate. She has no fear in general when she is racing around the neighborhood on her bike or her roller skates or her scooter. But she really has NO FEAR on the ice. She likes to see how fast she can go which does cause her to fall. A lot! Sometimes she'll fall just right and be done with skating for that day. But most of the time she falls and gets right back up and carries on. 8 )

Here is the video from her first competition. She competed in two events - basic elements and a program.

Enjoy!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great day and hope that you did too!

One More Year!!!!!!

Yeah baby! Check out the ticker to the side!!

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ONE MORE YEAR OF TRAINING!!!