I love my girls

The first weekends in July were unseasonally comfortable. So we turned off the AC, opened up the windows and let in the fresh air. At one point, while I was working in the kitchen, I heard the girls playing in the dining room. Here is how they were when I found them:

Alexa's Party at Clay Cafe

Alexa had her birthday this year at Clay Cafe - a paint your own pottery studio. Each child got to paint a plate and then add then handprint (or footprint) onto it. It was a lot of fun, and Alexa really had a good time!

The kids started out with a craft where they decorated their own goody bags with foamy stickers

Let the painting begin!

Alexa decided to get her footprint done. Here Miss Grace slathers her foot in paint. Alexa loved this part!

Back at the homefront, the kids took turns hitting a princess tiara. (Alexa is never one for birthday "themes." She just goes with what she likes. She wanted a Diego Birthday Cake, and a pink princess tiara piñata. Go figure.)

My other baby

The veggie garden is really doing great this year. I got more adventurous this year, after we realized that the backyard gets great sun and that we have good hearty soil back there too. This year, we planted squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and sugar snaps. All have been very successful - although, we waited too long to put the peas on the vine, and thus, inadvertently killed them. But before they met their demise, the girls and I would go back there and snap them off the plant and pop them right into our mouths - seriously, they were delicious...

Alexa's new bike

Abio came to visit Alexa for her birthday. The day before her party, we all went out and got Alexa her birthday present from Abio - a brand new bike! This one is much more sturdy than her old one, and will let her practice without training wheels, which she's been asking to do for a while now...

Happy Birthday Alexa!

Even with Arturo away in Mexico, we did have a grand time on Alexa's birthday. The girls decorated cupcakes (baked by Ginny, thank you!) to bring into school. They came out quite delicious and pretty!

And of course, the birthday fairy did pay a visit the night before Alexa's 4th birthday. (For the history of the birthday fairy, see here) Believe me, being 6+ months pregnant, and trying to put up the decorations by myself, in the dark - was NOT EASY. On top of that I had to be super quiet so as not to wake the sleeping child. Let's just say I proved my love for the girl that night!

In the end, I was really quite proud of my handiwork, though the pictures below don't begin to capture how awesome it must have been to wake up to the festive look of her room!

Alexa celebrating her birthday later that afternoon with her friends at Chesterbrook:

After that, we visited a nail salon where the girls got their fingers AND toes painted. They were quite the dainty girls after that...

Weekend Days in the Backyard

Alexa and Emma decided to set up their Art Table out in the backyard and worked very diligently for quite some time there!

Kindergarten Author's Tea - Pictures

It's hard to believe it's been over a month since I last updated the blog. As you probably all know, we have gone through a difficult time over the last few weeks. Hopefully, I'm back on track now...

For the Author's Tea, each child wrote and illustrated their own story. They they read it out loud to their families, in small groups. Leading our group was Mrs. Cofer, the Vice Principal of Crossfield. Emma's book was entitled "My Sister." There are some memorable parts of the story...

"I love my sister because I swim with her. I love her very much, but we still fight a little."

At the end, there is a small "About the Author Section." Here is what it says about Emma:

"Emma is five and a half years old. She lives with her mom, dad, and her sister Alexa. Emma's favorite color is purple. Her favorite food is spaghetti. She likes to travel to Disney World. When she grows up, Emma wants to be a mom because she loves babies!"

Here she is, reading to the group:

Emma with Mrs. Elsaesser (the teaching assistant)

Emma with Ms. Pleasant, her teacher:

Getting her kindergarten diploma:

Kindergarten Author's Tea

Last Friday, Emma had her Kindergarten Author's Tea. It's the kindergarten version of graduation - each child got to read a story that they had "published" and illustrated. Emma's story was called "My Sister" - and was all about her and Alexa. She wrote how she loved her sister very much even though they "fight a little." I'll say. Still, it was a very sweet story!

After the stories had been read, the kids got up front and did a medley of fun and funny songs... First up is Tooty Ta. You can tell how into all the songs Emma is!

Here's a kicked up version of a familiar song. It's cute watching Emma dance to it!

Last song. The kids are doing some sign language with the song. It's a long one, but I thought it was really sweet...

Herndon Festival 2009

This past weekend, I took the kids to the Herndon Festival. It was our 5th year in a row going - the weather was really nice, not too hot at all - and the girls behaved well and took turns choosing which ride to go on. Because I can't help but be nostalgic, here are pictures of Emma's first ride on the dragon (she was 21 months old) and her now - my how she's grown!

And here's Alexa, at 1, riding the dragon - and her this year:

On this next ride, the car goes very slowly, but then whips around the curve at warp speed, giving the kids whiplash. If you click on the picture below to enlarge it, you can see Emma and Alexa screaming their heads off at the turn:

My dad treated the girls to a snow cone after we were done with rides...

Princess Ballerinas

Alexa is loving her ballet class. At the end of each class the girls get a different costume (some variation of princess or fairy) to dress up in and twirl around the room. Here's the costume from last week

Birthday Ice Cream

For my birthday, we went out for some ice cream. Alexa, without fail, always gets chocolate and Emma always gets some sort of fruit sorbet. And, predictably, Alexa always gets chocolate EVERYWHERE!