Singing and soccer

What a busy Sunday! Katie and Allie sang in church this morning at the 8:30 service. The song was called "Amen" and after they sang they stood up in front of the church and the Lord's Prayer was said. Allie spotted us right away and poked Katie and told her where we were sitting. The entire time they sang as well as during the Lord's Prayer they waved to us. It was cute innocence on their part and they weren't the only kids waving the entire time. I know all of my angels were smiling down on them this morning!

 I always get excited when one of my girls tell me they want to go for a walk. Finally I have someone that will walk with me. Around 11 o'clock Allie said, " Mom I want to go for a walk.". Katie, Allie and I walked about 1 mile and spotted worms, mushrooms and flowers along the way. They did well and hardly complained. After lunch we had our kickoff meeting for soccer at the Eastview High School athletic fields. The girls are participating in the Eastview Athletic Association Soccer League this spring with games on Monday and Wednesday nights from 6-7PM. I will miss their Monday night soccer practices because of my work schedule but I will be able to be there on Wednesday nights.  What makes it more fun is that Mia and Olivia are on their team.  Mia and Olivia's dads are the coaches. I am pretty impressed by how organized and well run the league is. The girls all participated for an hour and a half. I wish the weather had been a bit warmer being that it was 50 degrees but the wind made it feel like it was about 35 degrees.  I guess you can now say I am officially a "soccer mom!"

Rice Krispie Treats

It is fun to see Katie and Allie discover true passions in life.  Lately they have been saying things like, "Mom, I love this or I really like this."  Today my little monkeys discovered Rice Krispie Treats and needless to say, they love them! I have made them before but never did I get the reaction that I did today.  I think we will make a lot of these treats in the future!

MOPS

Today was our last MOPS meeting of the year and as we were getting ready to go, Katie said, "Mom I love going to church." I really have enjoyed the friendships that I have made and the connections that we as a family have made with some wonderful people this last year.  Going to church makes me feel grounded and helps me put into perspective the things that are important in life.  I want my girls to feel loved and to love others, to be respectful and not to judge and to have a strong faith.  I feel so blessed to be a mom and sometimes life gets in the way and I don't appreciate the gift of motherhood.  One of the mom's told me a funny story today about her daughter Anna.   Anna is 4 and she is in the same MOPS class as Katie and Allie.  Anna's mom asked her who she played with at church. Anna said, "Mom, there are 2 girls in my class that have the same faces but different names!"  Anna was referring to Katie and Allie.  Anna's mom then explained to her that Katie and Allie are twins and sisters and that they may look alike but they happen to be 2 different people :)

This afternoon we went to Gleason's gym for open gymnastics.  Katie and Allie had so much fun jumping on the big trampolines - they jumped for over an hour!  They also tumbled, jumped in the pit and did a lot of swinging on the giant rope.  It was the best $5.00 that I have spent in a long time.  I was also proud of their listening skills and the great job they did sharing and taking turns.

Glorious Tuesday

I am always a bit worried about my little Allison and her insecurities when I drop her off at daycare and I wonder if and when it will get easier for her and how I can help her transition her feelings into security. This past Sunday I taught their Sunday school class and there was a little boy in their class who was so insecure and sad. His parents had to stay the entire class and any time his parents tried to leave he cried. I felt bad for him but it made me feel better about my little Allison.

My little girls have turned into such good little helpers. Today I had a lot of help watering my flowers. I am hoping that all of the time that I have spent with them teaching them about nature will pay off and maybe I will always have two extra gardeners helping me out! 

Art Project

Katie and Allie ask me to do art projects every day.  Today we decided to make a paper mache night light.  It started out fun, but turned into a messy mess!  Tomorrow we will finish and hopefully the night light will work!

 

Katie and Allie were so excited to find sweet corn yesterday at Target.  Being that it was such a beautiful day we decided to make a summer meal.  We made fresh strawberry pie (which I forgot to add the Cool Whip to) and had a summer meal on the deck.  A nice way to end a very busy week. 

Katie was busy making Valentines today.  She calls any card with a heart on it a Valentine.  After she finished she said, "Mom I want to bring these cards to Grandma and Grandpa right now."  I explained to her that Grandma and Grandpa live far away and she said, "Mom, why can't they live closer?"  Such endearing words from a sweet 4 year old.  I couldn't agree with her more.





Daily frustrations

There are days when I get frustrated as a mom and today was one of those days. I try to be patient and understanding but some days I just don't get my children's frustrations. My day started out at 2AM when Katie woke up crying. I never did fall back asleep, thankfully she did. At breakfast Allie wanted Special K but when I handed her the bowl of Special K, she threw it across the room. It was a good thing that I had not put milk on it yet. Then at snack time, she threw her bowl of apples across the table and then she proceeded to sob for 10 minutes. Mia and Olivia came over to play and the entire time they were here, Katie was super crabby. Olivia's Birthday cupcakes didn't even cheer her up. Maybe our dispositions will change tomorrow if there is a bit of sunshine!

Birthday Girls

This past Saturday, April 14th, we celebrated K&A's Birthday with my family.  We are so blessed to have so many people in our lives that love our little girls.  Katie and Allie helped me pick out everything for their party, from the napkins and plates to their own individual cakes and decorations.  Ladybugs and flowers were the theme, which is ironic because it has been the same theme for the last 3 years!  Katie wanted a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and Allie wanted a marble cake with chocolate frosting.  The weather was perfect, 70ish, and all of the kids played outside.  Everyone was so generous in their gift giving and Katie and Allie were extremely gracious, saying things like "Oh this is my favorite" and "I always wanted this!"  Grandma and Grandpa gave the girls each their own scooter - such a big hit that Daddy had to assemble them immediately after opening them.  Good thing Daddy is so handy with a screwdriver.  Auntie Jen and her family gave them girl Lego's called Lego friends.  On Sunday, a majority of the day was spent playing with the adorable Lego friends.  Uncle Jon and his family gave the girls each their own dress up princess dresses - Katie got Cinderella's dress and Allie got Belle's dress.  Katie and Allie each wore their dress to bed on Saturday night.  The dresses go well with the Princess shoes that we already have!

Each day I am more amazed by the imagination and creativity that Katie and Allie display.  It starts out early in the day.  This morning they had fun playing with their new Lego's after breakfast.  Then after they got dressed I found them in Katie's bed pretending to be little mice.  After I played teacher for 1 hour, they went to their school and mommy went to work.  Sometimes I don't understand daycare center rules.  Allie was a bit sad when I dropped them off.  I asked the teacher, who was setting out their cots for nap time, if Katie and Allie could sleep by each other and without a seconds hesitation she said no.  It just makes me sad to think that one of my girls is unhappy....

Here comes Peter Cottontail

K & A will never forget the Easter Bunny.  What a blast they had locating all of the hidden eggs the Easter Bunny left in the backyard.  After church, Todd dropped me off at home and then he took the girls to get his car washed.  While they were away, Mommy the Easter Bunny hid about 40 eggs in our backyard.  There was so much excitement in the air when they looked out the window and saw eggs in the back!  I think they might be a bit candy obsessed! 

After the Easter egg hunt, we went out to Grandma and Grandpa's house and had more Easter fun.  The best part of the day was having 4 little helpers help me whip cream and watching Katie and Allie blow bubbles with Paul, Jaci and Auntie Mary.

The ride home was a bit disastrous, including a complete meltdown from both Katie and Allie.  Maybe a bit too much sugar?  All in all we had a great day!  Praise the Lord!

Happy 4th Birthday!

These pictures say it all!  Happy Birthday to the loves of my life.  Cake, Ice Cream and Candy - all before 10:30 AM - could it be a more perfect day?  We had fun even if it rained all day!  Katie asked me this before falling asleep tonight, "Mommy when I wake up tomorrow will I be 5?"

Love,

Deborah

Jungle Gym

A little reflection time for my little girls who will be turning 4 tomorrow.  Thank you for such a fun year of 3's!  At times it was a bit challenging, trying to figure out all of your frustrations.  At times, my patience was truly tested and I did a lot of praying to become the best mother that I could be.  But in the end, it was a year of much love and affection, cuddles and hugs and so much growth!  Who could resist Katie sneaking out of her room at night and finding me telling me that she needs to cuddle or Allie saying just read one more book please or running to me at school to give me one more hug.  I hope that sweetness and innocence stays around forever.  K & A have become such smart little people with fantastic memories and such an eagerness to learn.  I am so proud of you! And I am so proud of the fact that you are so good and respectful to each other.  I want you always to be the best of friends.  There is nothing better than having a sister by your side your whole life!  Thanks for all of the laughs and all of your singing that you bless me with each day.  I wake up each day so excited knowing that I can spend most of my day with the both of you!  I am so blessed that I can stay home most days.

Thanks for all of the wonderful memories that we have made each and every day.  We had so much fun playing outside on our jungle gym today!  We also found some worksheets that Grandma shared with us a few years ago.  Both K&A listened to mommy the teacher and did so well!  Tomorrow is horray for 4's!

Pansies

What a beautiful day! We spent the morning at church - I had a MOPS Leadership meeting and Katie and Allie played in the nursery.  Allie was a bit hesitant when I dropped her off, but Ms. Joyce found a shopping cart and a baby and she was easily distracted.  I am so blessed to belong to a wonderful church and wonderful MOPS group.  They are all a bunch of women that I aspire to be.

Allie and Katie spent their first week in the red room at school with Ms. Julie.  I like Ms. Julie, she is full of energy and seems to connect well with me and my children.  Her character reminds me of my moms.

K&A also helped me plant some pansies and do some Spring garden cleanup.  The most fun part of the day for them were the wheelbarrow rides.  They are getting so big that it is not as easy as it once was to push them up the hill in the good old orange wheelbarrow.

I am going to enjoy tomorrow with them during their last full day of being 3!  Where did that last year go?  I will miss 3 but 4 should be even better!

Here are some of their goofy pictures from today!

10:30 PM

Well K&A broke a new record last night. They both were up until 10:30!  We spent the day out in Glencoe celebrating my Dad's Birthday.  I am so lucky to belong to a lovely, dear family who always makes everyone feel welcome and at home.  Katie and Allie spent alot of time running outside with their older cousins and playing with their new cousin Jia that I was expecting a quiet and peaceful ride home, but I was wrong!  They are both at the age where they ask a lot of questions and are both very curious. The ride home began with questions like, "Mom, we didn't brush our teeth, we will have to do that when we get home" and "Mom, we didn't read books tonight before bed, we will do that when we get home."  I thought with all of the outside air and fun, they would be asleep in 2 minutes, but I think they were both so overstimulated, they could not relax.   They wanted to listen to music, then they both had to go potty, then they wanted to play with their computers but became frustrated when it was so dark that they couldn't see anything.  When we got home, I brushed their teeth and read a few books and when they finally just laid down, they were asleep in 5 minutes.  Hopefully they will sleep in today!

I so enjoy my family and I wish we all lived closer to each other.  Here is lovely picture of my mom reading a book to the girls.  A moment of time that I will always cherish.