The Sequel

I realized that I never put up any "after" photos of our remodeled bathroom, at least after the shower doors were installed and the closet was completed.  So here are the sequel photos:

Fall Cloverisms

- "I know, I know.  I'm beautiful," said Emily to Lee one Sunday morning, as she came down the stairs in a new outfit for church.
- "Daddy is my hero."  After Emily suffered a catastrophic incident at school, Lee calmly and patiently rushed to her rescue, and made everything better.  Afterwards, he lamented that it took him ten minutes to get to school, while she called him her hero, as she snuggled against me.  I love this family.
- "I can't wait until my eleventh birthday.  That's the day I find out if I'm a muggle-born wizard, like Hermione." Wondering if Elizabeth's infatuation with all things Harry Potter will wear off before then, or if she will have an extremely disappointing 11th birthday.
- "I like Miley Cyrus the same way I like Justin Bieber.  I like her music, but I don't like what she does as a person."  Well done, nine year old.  You are wise beyond your years.
- "When I'm a sophomore in college, you will be a senior in high school." And mom and dad will be likely be eating cat food....
- "I can't wait until I'm 16.  That's when I will find out if I'm really a princess."  Why oh why did we watch the Princess Diaries with Emily?
- "Do I have dark circles under my eyes?" asked Emily.  "Yes, you do.  But why did you ask that?"  "You said that I look tired and I read in a book that having dark circles under your eyes means that you look tired."
- "I can't WAIT to see this movie!!"  exclaimed Emily as I read aloud a particularly exciting chapter of the third Harry Potter book.
- "How 'bout I get to read The Hunger Games if I get an A on this math test??"  Elizabeth is desparate to read The Hunger Games and so, as an incentive, we told her that if she got an A in math on her reportcard, we would put it on her kindle.  Math is, without a doubt, her toughest subject and she knows that getting an A is going to be impossible, so she's hoping that we will look at her math scores on a test by test basis instead.
- "My school picture is so much better this year.  I don't know what I was thinking when I picked pink wire frames.  That was not smart."
- "She's not afraid of dogs.  And I told her that only one of our dogs was violent.  The other one is black."  Emily, explaining our dogs to her friends.  Apparently, violent means crazy, at least in Emily's world.  And I'm not sure how the color of Elliot's fur describes his docile behavior....
- "I am itching for something to sew."  I received this text from Elizabeth while I was at work one afternoon. She wanted me to buy some fabric for her on my way home.  Of course, she doesn't actually know how to sew...
- "You are not old!  You are not even 40 yet.  50 is old," stated Elizabeth.  "Actually, they changed it.  60 is old now," corrected Emily.

Santa's Workshop

Santa has a year round workshop at Yankee Candle and happened to be hard at work when we visited.  There were not many kids around, and although the girls studiously avoided making eye contact with him, Santa snuck up on them and coaxed them into sitting on his lap.  Emily could not think of a single thing to ask for, while Elizabeth could only come up with an iPad mini (but she had the good sense to look embarrassed when she mentioned it).  Santa gave them a brief lecture on good manners and then we were on our way.

Elizabeth jumped a mile when she turned and saw Santa standing there. 

Elizabeth later told us that she inspected Santa quite closely to see if he was the "real" Santa or just a helper.  This guy, she thought, had a good chance of being the real deal. 

Love this saying....

Yankee Candle

The girls had an extended Veteran's Day weekend and while Lee and I both worked on Monday, we took off Tuesday and gave the girls a choice of places to spend the day: Newport, Boston, or Boston Museum of Science.  For some reason, they decided that they wanted to go to the Yankee Candle Flagship Store - for the life of us, we cannot understand why!  I was, however, more than happy to oblige - I just love that place!

Emily was so excited to make a candle this year. 

Putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece. 

Elizabeth decided to dip a pair of taper candles. 

We never noticed this before - a map of visitors to YC.  We didn't put a pin because there was no room in the northeast, but it was neat to see the pins all over the world. 

Elizabeth saw this and ran over, exclaiming "Gum Ball Heaven!" 

YC is filled with all sorts of neat things - like this giant nutcracker!

Last Game of the Season

Elizabeth's last soccer was over Veteran's Day weekend.  The team beat a solid opponent (a team that they tied in September), ending the season with five straight wins and a ton of confidence.  She played okay in her final game and is looking forward to playing indoor, beginning in January.

U10 Magic

October Odds and Ends

Some October odds and ends:

I'm a hero for saving Baxter.  Just ask Lee. 

American Girl Doll play date.

Rainbow Loom play date.

A bit of Irish dancing for you....

Halloween!

The girls trick-or-treated on October 31st for the first time in three years!  Although the forecast was for high winds and rain, both held off until later in the evening and we enjoyed a balmy round of trick or treating. This was the first year that Emily did more than one or two streets, so we have more Halloween candy than you can possibly manage at our house.

October Soccer

With the cold weather comes the end of the soccer season. Emily had a great year - her team actually won some games and she really enjoyed playing.  I'm not sure if she simply wants to do whatever Elizabeth does, or if she actually wants to continue playing, but Emily asked to play during the winter session, joining the travel team.  We reluctantly agreed, although both girls are taking off session one.

I'll take the throw in!

 

Elizabeth still has a few more games left this season.  She continues to improve, but is still far and away the least talented player on her team.  At times, it can be painful to watch her on the field.  We are just lucky that her team is made up of some of the greatest girls around; they continue to pass to her, encourage her, etc.  Her coach has not given up on her, and we are doing our best to keep the faith.