Twas the Night Before Christmas...

L participated in her second Christmas performance this evening. She was a Christmas present in the show this evening. She always gets so excited about her shows...mainly because she gets to wear make-up. She also looks forward to the flowers her Granddad gives after each of the recitals. The first thing she said this evening when I picked her up was "Where are my flowers?". William was an adoring big brother and said "you hardly did anything"...he did follow-up with a "good job, sister" after some gentle encouraging.

Lauren got some air in this picture, she is not that much taller than the little girl in the front.

What's up Doc?

I asked L what was in her pants. She lifted up her shirt to reveal all her Dr. supplies tucked into her waistband.  She was getting ready to doctor up the scarecrow.

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Leave it to Beaver...

Today is 50's day at W's school.

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I wish I could seperate them like this in the car!

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Miss T

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It's official...

soccer season has started!

William is on the "Tigers" in U8. This is a much bigger field then he is used to playing on, quite a jump from U6. The season started off great. William's team kicked of with a 7-3 win! The way practices have been looking, this was quite surprising. The team really pulled it together.

Lauren's team is called the "rapids". She is starting her first season of start smart soccer. Lauren started her season off with a bang. She was really "the last man standing" with her team...most of the kids needed a break. Lauren couldn't get enough of kicking that ball.

W, L, and their buddies

Opening day for soccer. The kids are clearly in the right frame of mind.

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William is ready to support his team.

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Soccer! (Or ballerina)

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L's Very Merry Un-Birthday

Dance Party

The faces on these determined children crack me up!

William is turning *6*

Today, William had a surprise birthday party! He came in the house, we yelled "surprise!", he looked around and soaked it all in then said "what are you all doing here?" in is sweet and somewhat frightened voice. He wasn't really sure what to think but, he got into the swing of things pretty quickly. The party was Pokemon themed since that is W's current top interest.

On another note, we have sort of been on blogging hiatus this summer. The summer has been full of fun activities including swimming/swim lessons, horseback riding, nighttime walks, soccer camp, short trips, and lots of playing. We are looking forward to the school year starting. William and Lauren have all their school supplies. They have both been through their supplies over and over again and packed their backpacks over and over again--I'd say they were excited (about the supplies anyway)!

Carnevale di Venezia

L participated in her second performance last weekend. She was sooo...excited about this show. Her excitement came not from the actual ballet, but from the opportunity to wear make-up on the "big stage" and to get flowers after the show. After her first show in December, she was given flowers by her Grandparents. She still has one dried flower that she smells and touches every night before bed. L is very specific about the color of flowers she can be given...PINK! She was a little disappointed that she wasn't wearing a beautiful ballerina outfit like the older girls. She sure was a cute Jester, though.

The show was a great success. L was perfect, of course! Her classes role was small, maybe about 7 minutes. But those minutes were worth the more than $140 dollars her family spent on tickets to watch. I watched her on stage and watched the older, very talented dancers. I can clearly vision L moving so gracefully and skillfully on the stage when she is a older!

Easter

William was excited to see Pokemon Black for his DS in his basket when he woke up Sunday morning. He opened it and started playing right away. He also loved his first Bible. He carried it to church that morning and then after church read to me the verses that they read in Sunday School. I was so proud of him.
Lauren was sleeping when William got his basket. But, William couldn't stand it, he really needed Lauren to get up and see her basket. So he brought it to her and woke her up. She has been carrying around her Little Bible and Princess Gigi books and blanket everywhere we go ever since.
After church we hunted for eggs at Grandma's and Grandad's house and then dyed Easter eggs.

Short trip

We took a short trip to Tybee Island and Savannah. The first stop was Fort Pulaski. W and L really enjoyed the fort and the tunnels. W was really cute...he wanted to stop and sketch some things in his notebook. You can see him sitting on the hillside "sketching". L loved ALL the things that I found scary...the railless bridge, the narrow walkway on the steep hill that dropped straight into the moat, the railless second level of the Fort! She loved all those things and is much to fearless! William enjoyed hearing the history of the fort and he was pretty convinced (not by me) that the odd smell in some of the tunnels was from dead bodies. I assured him it was from all the rain and the water that must have collected on the floors. I think he liked his story better.

Please do take note of the scary edge on the second level of the fort...we didn't stay up there for long!

We stayed in a hotel with an indoor pool. William has had the itch to get back in the water since finishing his first session of swim lessons. He had loads of fun playing with other kids in the pool and even learned to swim to the bottom of the pool to collect his diving sticks. While in Savannah, we rode the trolley all around town, getting of and exploring the locations that were of interest. Our first stop was The Pirate House...a restaurant, lunch was a must. Next we went to the Jepson center for the arts. They have an ArtZeum for the kids to have some hands on learning. I think our favorite part was the sculpture wall. William creatively sculpted a face and L had to have everything off the wall so she could serve cupcakes.

After the ArtZeum, we went to Factor's Walk...where again, L loved the dangerously steep stairs. Then, we went to the River Street. W and L really liked looking at the boats. But, their favorite thing really had to be the candy store!

This Girl Can Work It!!

L came home from school and ran straight to her room. Next time I saw her, this is what she looked like! And, YES, she left the house like this--W had soccer practice. I am certain that if anybody can pull this look off, that person is most definitely Lauren!

William's Words

Let me start this by explaining that L has a ton of jewelry she plays dress up in that belonged to her Great Neenee. She LOVES the jewelry and wears pieces daily...and she also leaves pieces all over the floor. William found a ring on the floor that "looks" like a gold ring with 3 or 4 diamonds. The conversation went like this:

W: Is this an engagement ring?

J: No, it's just a play ring

W: Do you have an engagement ring?

J: Yes, do you want to see it?

W: yes

(we go to my room and I pull out my wedding set)

W: you get two

J: Well, one is an engagement ring and the other is a wedding ring. I wore them when I was married. Maybe you can have them when your old enough to get married.

W: Yeah, when I'm like 10

Who's been sleeping in my bed?!

Well, nobody until this afternoon! Until this afternoon, Lauren's bed has been an exam table, changing table, napping place for her babies, storage for her animals...anything except a place where she sleeps. All that changed this morning when she saw her new bedding. I made it all yesterday but, she only saw little pieces until this morning when it was all put together. L insisted on napping in her bed. Well, who am I to stand in her way! And so, she naps in her bed for the first time in, well, years!

Sweet Moments

L was patiently waiting for us to leave for dance class. She was finally able to finish "Enchanted" after about 4 or 5 days and the movie credits music was on...W and L always consider this to be dance time. L sweetly danced with her little baby while the music played. The video is a little grainy, no really sure why, but still super cute and sweet.

Stister

Now you may think that says SISTER but, you would be mistaken. Stister is not a familial relationship, it is a proper noun. Stister does originate from sister as L has been called sister ever since I knew she was a girl. She is still called sister today. L really, really enjoys role play. She can be anyone from Alice (in Wonderland) to Cinderella to Mommy and whatever else falls in between those titles. When she is playing "mommy" her playmate is always Stister. The playmate should definitely refer to themselves as Stister. The funny thing about role play with L is you never know what character she is going bring to playtime.

Oh, Momma got ya this

"Oh, Momma got ya this" is what L said to Zoe in her very prissy way, tilting her head just so. She piled all of Zoe's toys around while Zoe sat so patiently and let L play.

Starting 2011--part 4

If W had any favorite moment it was this...the guy at the bottom of the "seesaw" was launched into the air and he did a back flip into the chair. Once he landed in the chair it backfired...W just cracked up!

starting 2011--part 3

L did enjoy some cotton candy

W and L both enjoyed having floor seats. They took full advantage of the floor space beside our seats...well, the dance floor, according to them.

This is one part L liked. The elephants WOWed her.

Starting 2011--part 2

W and Kylie enjoyed driving in the car. I am not sure if W is racing Kylie here or running for his life!

The circus was a hit with W. This was a magic show/circus. William loved the people appearing and dissapearing from the boxes. He really loved the clowns that came out between sets. Lauren needed some coaxing to stay for the whole show after the first person disappeared from a box. I am not sure how her little mind computed that but it terrified her, for sure.

Starting off 2011

W, L, and I went to see "Gulliver's Travels". The really liked the movie but mostly it was the movie theater popcorn that they enjoyed. We were the only people in the theater so nobody was annoyed in the snapping of this picture.

W and L are finding more and more friends to play with in the neighborhood. In this picture is Kylie, a regular playmate. Lauren is in true form wearing her Rapunzel dress--I can't believe that thing hasn't fallen apart yet. The big ball is GREAT fun. The kids get in it and roll around in the yard--they are like hamsters in a wheel.

W and L are doing W's favorite thing to play, talk about, watch...Bey Blades.

L loves to put the dome cones out and spread them around the yard. This is the first time she actually walked on them.