Lounging in the Leaves

One night last week, Steve took the girls outside so that they could play in the leaves after dinner.  All of the leaves are now off most of our trees, and they continue to blow throughout the yard.  The girls seemed to have so much fun just rolling around in them!

Louging around:

Having so much fun:

Sophia is 20 Months Old

Sophia is becoming such a spirited and expressive child!  I am loving it ...  She brings such joy to our lives; there is constant giggling from both her and Samantha.  While some days, she does wake up with a devious attitude, she manages to always smooth things over with a kiss and hug for her Momma.

Here are some things that she has been up to lately:

Whenever I ask her to smile for a picture, I get this look:

She loves feeding her "babies;" regardless of whether they resemble humans or not.  And she takes her role very seriously.

Taking time to smell the flowers:

She loves doing chalk drawings:

Sophia's first popcorn party with Momma.  Needless to say, it was a success.

If I would let Sophia wear cowgirl boots during all hours of the day, she would.  These boots were Sam's (and are a little too big for Sophia), but that doesn't matter.  The girl loves boots.

One morning when Sophia wasn't feeling too well, she spent some quality time with her daddy.  It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen.



The girls created quite the mess outside of their toy box.  And of course, Sophia couldn't miss an opportunity to climb (where does she get the spunk to do that?).  So, here she was -- on top of the empty toy box.

One of the biggest changes in Sophia this month is how much easier she is adapting to people coming and going.  The mere sight of someone leaving our house without her was enough to send her into a complete tailspin.  She would burst into tears and begin hyperventilating ... on cue.  Now, whenever we explain that someone is leaving, she will say "bye" and blow a kiss.  No big deal.

One such thing that makes the idea of Sam leaving for school easier for Sophia is if she gets to take her own "backpack."  (It is actually the matching lunch box that accompanies Sam's backpack).  It makes her feel like she is part of the event, I guess.

She even knows which side of the car is her side to get in on:

And finally -- this picture melts my heart.  She looks so grown-up!

Dance Observation

At Samantha's dance class this week, parents were allowed to come and observe the little dancers during their scheduled dance time.  It is highly encouraged that we attend because it provides an audience, as well as giving the kids a chance to show us what they have learned in the last 5 weeks.

For the first 15 minutes or so, the dancers always do their stretches and warm-up.

Sam, doing her butterfly stretch:

Splits!

Doing her straddle:

Then, the dancers work on small dance routines that they practice first ... and then put to music.

Doing her "boogie" (part of one of the dance routines):

Towards the end, the dancers break up into three groups and take turns doing various tumbling exercises with the teachers.

Sam, practicing her backbend:

Starting a cartwheel:

Finishing her balance beam routine:

Perhaps the most exciting part for Samantha was the flashlight dance at the end!  The teachers turned out the lights, flipped on their flashlights and the kids got to dance to a Mickey Mouse song while being in the "spotlights."  Even the parents got to partake!

This dance class has been a very positive experience for Samantha.  She has made a lot of friends (one of them is even in her preschool class) and she seems to just thrive in this environment.  She looks forward to her class every week (only 45 minutes, one night a week) and comes home just as excited as she was when she left.  While I only paid for one 10 week term because I wasn't sure if she would like it, I plan to pay for the remaining two terms this calendar year and allow her to continue.  I really am happy that she enjoys it so much ...

Family Wedding

Last weekend, we attended my cousin's wedding in Howell.  The girls were so excited to wear their dresses to the big event!

The ceremony took place outside, under a covered pavilion, but the rain and wind kept blowing in from the sides.  Luckily, we were far enough in that none of us got wet! 

The girls each wanted to sit next to my mom during the ceremony:

We then headed to a beautifully decorated ballroom to enjoy appetizers before dinner.  I tried to get a few pictures at that time, but the girls were anxious to be able to move around and explore the place.  They did cooperate for a few obligatory photos, though.

The girls weren't looking at the camera, but I decided that I would take what I could get!



Sam posing with Alyssa, my brother's girlfriend.  (Afterwards, I noticed that the chandelier behind her gives the illusion that she is wearing a crown!):

Sam and Levi are second cousins.  Levi is 8 months older than her and they get along so nicely.  In fact, the two of them spent much of the evening out on the dancefloor, chasing each other around.

Speasking of dancing, this little cutie was showing off some of her moves to me:

The three of them, just having a great time:

Sophia spent some time on the sidelines of the dance floor, just hanging with her daddy:

Sam, dancing with her daddy:

Steve and me:

We left around 8:45 pm because it was a little bit of a drive home for us and the girls were starting to get a tad bit tired.  We changed them out of their dresses and into the pajamas that I had packed for them so that they would be all ready for bed by the time we got home.  Both Steve and I were surprised that neither one of the girls really fell asleep on the way home (Sam snoozed for the last 5 minutes or so), but they definitely fell asleep quickly after we tucked them in bed!

Samantha's First Field Trip

Samantha's pre-school class took their first field trip this week.  They don't actually do too many of these, so Samantha was really excited about it.  I left Sophia home with my mom (siblings aren't allowed to attend), and just Samantha and I headed out to Andy T's -- a pumpkin patch about 40 minutes north of here.

It was a VERY cold morning (only about 40 degrees outside), so we dressed in layers ... knowing that the hayride would make us even more cold.  We stayed pretty warm, but I was thankful to be back in the warmth of our car when the festivities were over.

Shortly after we arrived, we were treated to cider and donuts.  Sam wanted to be sure to sit next to her friend, Aleah.

Sam found a bale of straw and posed for me (without me even asking!  It's like the girl just knows that this Momma goes a little crazy with photos!).

Lots and lots of pumpkins!

Sam was pretty fascinated with these large pumpkins!

I think that these girls are going to be pretty good friends:

Half-way through our wagon ride, out driver (Andy T, himself) stopped and informed the kids that they would be able to pick out three things from the field: a gourd, a pumpkin and an ear of Indian Corn.

Choosing her pumpkin:

Searching among the cornstalks to find the perfect ear of Indian Corn:

She found it!

Posing with Momma:

It was a fun field trip, and I am so glad that we got to do this (even if I did secretly wish that it was a tad bit warmer).  We set out her collection of goods (the gourd, pumpkin and Indian Corn) and made a beautiful display by our front door.  Now we are all ready for Fall!

Watermelon Harvest

(I'm a little behind on these pictures, but it has been a long week in our household; Samantha is just about back to "feeling like herself," but now Sophia has the cold and it is in full-force).

This summer, my sister bought each of the girls their own little watermelon starter kit.  One of the kits was a dud and never amounted to anything.  The other one, though, took off from seed and was transplanted into a pot that we moved outside.  Several vines grew from it and the girls were able to harvest 4 little watermelons from it a couple of weeks ago.  They were small, but surprisingly sweet!

Waiting patiently for us to cut the fruits of their labor:

Sophia was practically salivating:

Sophia finally got to have a taste and she was so happy about that:

And Sam got her own taste too:

Of course, the watermelons were all gone that night.  But I am so grateful that they produced something for the girls.  They really are learning quite a bit about gardening and harvesting produce lately. 

Thanks again, Aunt Chele!

Sick Sam

We knew that it would happen; it was inevitable.  As soon as Samantha started school, it was only a matter of time until she got sick.  Just being exposed to all of the kids and the germs would take its toll on her.  So this weekend, she came down with a cold.  I tried to keep it at bay, giving her medicine and making sure that she just relaxed a little.

Last night, though, she developed a little cough.  We snuggled her in bed and within about 25 minutes, she came back downstairs to tell us that she had thrown up in her bed (and on her pajamas).  Steve got her all cleaned up while I put a second set of clean linens on her bed.  We snuggled in her bed (yet again), but it was obvious that she was miserable and was having trouble sleeping.

I spent some time with her, rubbing her back and reading to her ... just hoping to settle her back down.  I left her in bed so that I could get ready for bed myself, only to hear her call out to me, crying, because she had gotten sick again. 

I changed the sheets again, this time putting a towel down (just in case) and was finally able to get her to sleep.  It was definitely a long night for her and me ... and the washing machine.

These are some of the quotes from her:

"I just don't feel like myself, Momma."

It's just no fun being sick, Momma."

Mom, I gave Sophia a little hug and I told her that I would be better soon."

This morning, she woke up claiming that she wasn't sick anymore and was ready to go to school.  Even though she didn't have a fever, she still didn't sound very good.  I just didn't want to risk sending my sick child to school and infecting the other students.  Besides, an extra day of rest would do her good.
She argued with me, begging to go to school.  In fact, I took a video of it knowing that one day she will actually be begging me to let her stay home from school.  She told me that she wanted to see her friend, Mallory, and didn't want to miss anything.  She was SO upset with me for not letting her go.

She seems to be doing a little better now, and I know that I made the right choice in keeping her home.  I promised her that she can go on Wednesday and that all of her friends will be so happy to see her ... 

Now, if I can just prevent Sophia from catching the same cold, I will be so lucky.  Otherwise, it is going to be a long week!