Memorial Day

Our Memorial Day parade was just cancelled due to rain - we are all so bummed out, the girls especially.  I'm glad that we got the chance to take some patriotic photos yesterday while the weather was beautiful.

We fly our flag proudly every day. 

Special flag buntings on the porch.

Emily and Elizabeth with Baby and Elizabeth Cole, who have matching patriotic outfits. 

The Prom

Our lovely neighbor and the girls' former babysitter Taylor attended her Senior Prom last night and of course, I went to the house to take some photographs.  The girls were not with me, as they were both at a birthday party, but they were so excited to see the photos when they got home.  Taylor looked gorgeous - of course, she is such a stunning girl.  I can't believe how grown up she is!

Josh and Taylor

Love the back of her dress. 

She is so lovely. 

The family 

The girls

School Dayz

Elizabeth and Emily have both had several school events over the last couple of weeks.  For various reasons, we unfortunately only have photos/videos from Elizabeth's (don't worry, second child, I will make it up to you!).  In the last two weeks, Emily had a Mother's Day Tea (I was away, so her godmother filled in for me) and Special Persons Day (which was attended by Lee).  Elizabeth had school spirit day, which required her to dress as her favorite storybook character.  She/I chose Annie from the Magic Tree House books - because she loves MTH and because it was an easy costume.  Later in the week, Elizabeth had her school concert, which had a patriotic theme, and then today, she participated in Field Day, which Lee attended.  There are so many exciting things happening these last weeks of school!!

Elizabeth as Annie from the Magic Tree House books (MTH friends - notice the braids).

Red, white and blue day - school concert day.

Spring concert

Signing and singing - multi-talented first graders!

Elizabeth's favorite song from the concert.

 Potato Push

The dash.

Obstacle course.

Egg balance.

Notorious Rock Wall of Pain

Devin is Three!

Last weekend, we went to a birthday party for Devin, who turned three at the beginning of May.  Even though it was pouring rain, the kids made the most of the bounce house and had a wonderful time.  Three is such a great age, and Devin really enjoyed his party - and especially his birthday cake!!  He also got into all of the presents as Miss Cathy opened them.

The bounce house, in the pouring rain.

The smiling birthday boy! 

Love that grin! 

The rain didn't deter Emily - she was all smiles too! 

Sleeping Mateo 

Birthday cake. 

Devin kept sticking his hands in the frosting - "It's my birthday!" 

Look at him - trying to get once last lick of frosting while Miss Cathy was busy lighting the candles. 

Awesome scooter from his aunt and uncle! 

John Deere from us.

Sal and Mateo, who is still so tiny.

Close to Home

After several weeks of traveling (for Easter, competition, the relay race and family obligations), Lee and I were relieved to check the calendar and note that, although filled to the brim with commitments through the middle of August, we do not need to leave Connecticut again until our summer vacation.  Over the last week or so, we have enjoyed some down time, puttering around the house, playing in the yard, gardening, and just hanging out.

Napping on the couch. 

Playing in the yard. 

Playing Magic Tree House on the computer. 

Skilled gamers. 

Swinging 

The Things They Say

- "Emily, do you want peanut butter or peanut butter and fluff in your sandwich?" "Um, just fluff please." Not likely (although she clearly takes after me on that one!).
- "Emily, you look even cuter than me!" Elizabeth is such a generous sister.
- "I bought Elizabeth an iPad and she loves it."  Elizabeth casually mentioned to me one morning.  That's right, she supposedly bought her AGD an iPad, like it's no big deal.  I told her that if she had enough money laying around to buy her doll an iPad, perhaps she could lend some of it to me....
- "When are you going to pay me back?"  The other morning, I borrowed a couple of dollars from Elizabeth.  I was meeting a friend for coffee and neither Lee nor I had any cash on us, so I asked Elizabeth to borrow a couple of dollars, which she happily gave me.  She then spent the next 24 hours asking for repayment, non-stop!  And yes, I finally paid her back - 25 hours later.
- "I have the best pirints [parents] in the world."  This is a note that Elizabeth wrote to Lee and I and we will keep it forever.  What did we do to deserve such praise?  After we met with Elizabeth's teacher and got her report card, I wrote a note and put it in her lunchbox, letting her know how proud we were of her for working so hard.  She nearly exploded with happiness when she found the note, and wrote one of her own back to us.
- "I love Mr. Nick's mohawk."  Emily is already showing signs of being attracted to "bad boys," considering that she has her heart set on Nick, the mohawk-sporting owner of The Refuge.
- "Can I have my birthday here?" asked Emily, in the middle of dinner.  "Here" is a local sports bar called Rookies, where we happened to go with a bunch of friends after a local competition.
- "How was the bad girl?" Emily is fascinated with a little girl that we see at church every Sunday who is horribly behaved.  This past Sunday, Emily had Sunday school, so she was unable to see for herself just how bad the "bad girl" was.
- "I don't play with Lambie anymore because if I play with Lambie, you won't get me an American Girl Doll.  But I love Lambie."  Emily has been good about only sleeping with Lambie lately, not playing with him/her.
- "The tallest person I know is Auntie Kathy."  This is a pretty amusing comment coming from Elizabeth, considering the amount of time that she spends with some powerlifters we know....
- "Are you Auntie Kathy's little sister because you are so much shorter than her?  Because I'm Elizabeth's little sister and she's taller than me."
- "Guess what, Mommy?  Miss Jen knows all about the girls from TDI going to the dance competition this weekend!!"  That would probably be because Miss Jen = TDI.  Not sure why, after 5 years of dance, Elizabeth hasn't figured that one out yet.
- "I wish I was Elizabeth."  "Why?" "Because she always tells on me and I get in trouble."
- "Don't worry, if I get butter in my nose I won't have to go back to the hospital.  It will melt."
- "I know, I know.  I'm very chappy."  That's "chatty" for those of you that can't see her hand motion.
- "Grammy makes desserts and Grandpa makes MEAT!!"  True, very true.
- "I know who sings this.  Gusher."  That's Usher.
- "I wish that the Lady Gaga [paparazzi] people had left his mother alone so she could have been at the wedding."  Elizabeth was very into the royal wedding and wished the Princess Diana could have been there.
- "What's this?"  Elizabeth asked, pointing to an ironing board inside the closet of the hotel where we were staying.  In case you were wondering, I don't iron much.
- "Our daddy looks like Daddy Worry-box."  Emily loves Annie, even when she doesn't get the characters' names just quite right.
- "My knee pits are all wet!" yelled Elizabeth after we ran through the church parking lot in pouring rain.  You know, knee pits - the spot behind your knee on the back your leg.

(after downing blue ring pops)

First Grade Field Trip: Maureen

One of the things that I really love about Elizabeth is that she has a great sense of adventure.  Nothing really bothers her, she is willing to try anything.  And from her father, she inherited a wonderful love of nature - and the desire to touch it all.  Emily is more like me in that she won't go anywhere near a bug or slug.  Elizabeth, on the other hand, is in tune with nature and loves animals.  For me, the best part of the field trip was watching her experience all kinds of new animals, up close and personal.  And she touched them all!

The nature hike.

On the hike with Kelsie. 

Up close and personal with a lot of large birds. 

Taking a photo of the enormous peacock. 

Inside the children's museum. 

  

I could have gone for a milk shake by the end of the visit!!

Petting a chinchilla. 

A bearded dragon, snacking on some meal worms. 

Touching the bearded dragon. 

A turtle, also feasting on meal worms (which were gross, by the way). 

Touching the turtle's shell and her leg. 

A snake (ewwww!). 

Yep, you guessed it.  She even touched the snake (ewwww)!!! 

And finally, a baby chicken.  For those of you wondering, we Purelled like crazy when this part of the visit was over!!! 

The massive peacock!