Introducing Gram and Pops' New House

Well we all survived my parents move to Stillwater. The girls have taken full advantage of them being close already. They think they have to go to "gram and pops new house" all the time. I have had a hard time loading them back up to take them home. They have requested to stay an afternoon with "no Mommy and Daddy". That day they were playing with crayons after their nap and heard John Denver's "Country Roads" come on the Sirius Radio Station and they both dropped the crayons and went out to the living room to dance and sing. Last night we delivered our old lawn mower for pops to use and Elle told us she was staying the night. So we took Emma and had some special time with her, while Elle had special time with Gram, Pops, and Uncle Wogan. Emma was missing her sister before bed, but she made it until she got home the next morning. They talked on the phone twice while they were apart and greeted each other with a big hug this morning.

Library Awards Program

Last Thursday the girls got certificates for their summer reading. They each logged over 20 hours. There was an awards ceremony complete with snacks at the end. Their friends Ryan and Dylan Winterhalter were in attendance too. The boys helped us wait until we got to the end of the alphabet. It took a long time to get to Y. I guess the girls better get used to it! I was surprised that both Elle and Emma went up by themselves to get their award, and posed for a picture. What big girls! It probably helped that the boys went first and showed them how.

Movie Night!

The girls are finally getting into watching movies. The Little Mermaid is the staple around the house; but last weekend we watched Toy Story. It was complete with sleeping bags and popcorn. Logan even showed up out of the blue and stayed to watch! We were in Wal-mart on Friday and Elle was in the Movie section with me. I was checking out how much Disney DVD's were at the store. She saw Toy Story 2 to and said "Get it for me! Watch with Logan and popcorn!" I told her that we already had it at home, but we could pop popcorn and see if Logan would come over. The movie premier was on Friday....the girls enjoyed it, and so did Uncle Logan!

Abi Visit!

My best friend Abi was in town on Friday, and they girls anxiously awaited her arrival. Elle started playing with her right away, and it took a little while for Emma to warm up. She brought some birthday gifts for them to open and they were thrilled. They got more pieces for their Mrs. Potato Heads along with a lot of other stuff. Elle told me while I was rocking her to sleep that night, "Abi watch Little Mermaid with me tomorrow" and "Next time Abi comes bring Mari with her!" (Mari is Abi's 15 month old daughter.) I cannot believe the things that she picks up on!

Water Party!

On Wednesday Elle and Emma hosted a water party! They invited their old daycare pals, Dylan, Ryan, and Zaneypoo. (His name is really just Zane, but the girls prefer Zaneypoo) Right before they arrived with their parents, Elle told me "My boys are coming!" We set up the Pool, Slip and Slide, and the Hop-n-splash. The kids had a blast!

Kids Fitness Zone Again!

We went to the Gym again on Friday, and Dad went too! The girls had a great time again, but Scott thought that there were too many unruly kids!

Catch the Reading Bug!

I signed the girls up for the Summer Reading Program at the Library. It is a statewide summer reading program where the kids record the number of hours that they read or are read to, and submit slips for prizes. We are approaching my goal of 20 hours! We started in early June and hope to finish this week. We are also going to library programs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They have little programs for the kids that last about an hour. We don't always last the full hour, but we try. This week we saw an African Storyteller, and a Magician. They girls' favorite this summer was the "Magic Dad" and a variety entertainer that made bugs out of balloons (it was so neat!) The picture is of Uncle Wogan helping the cause and his captivated audience while he was reading "When I was Little".

Shoo Fly!

Emma came out to the living room holding a shoe the other day and I asked her what she was doing? She told me she was getting a fly. It was so funny! She was chasing the fly with the shoe trying to kill it. I tried to help by adding a fly swatter to her arsenal! Elle got into it too, but they started swatting each other, so I had to take them away, but not before I snapped a few pictures!

Batman Returns!

The mask has appeared again! The Batman Mask is a favorite at our house. We first saw one over at Ryan and Dylan's house and the girls had to get one. It was the best 2.88 I have spent in a while! Pops was seen wearing the mask along with Wogan! Pops had in on one morning and scared the girls with it for a while and then got in the shower. Elle then announced Batman was in the shower! It is pretty funny because they can know that you have the mask on, turn their head for a spilt second and then look back and be scared all over again!

4th of July Fun!

On the 4th, Gram, Pops, and Scout (last being the most important) came down and the girls' friend Madisyn and her mom Amanda came over for a cookout. We also pulled out the water toys! We had a BLAST! We also went and watched the Stillwater Fireworks Display after Dark. The girls are still talking about the fireworks!

In the picture is Pops, Madisyn, and Elle.

Lazy Saturday Morning

I took this picture this morning when Scott caught the girls all snuggled up together on the couch watching Sportscenter? Well that part was more than likely forced due to the fact that they have not figured out how to type 107 (nick) on the remote. But it was cute anyway!

Our House!

The girls are getting old enough that they realize where we are in town and relate it to where we are going. Elle is especially good at this. She has announced what each store is on 51 for a while now. She has said "ice cream, pizza, hamburgers, money" as we go past Shakeys, Mazzios, Wendy's and The Bank for about 6 months. Recently she has upped the game and tried to tell me where we are going. I guess I am too predictable with my driving; because we were in a neighborhood that I used to cut through to get to Kendra's, their daycare provider, and she asked if we were going to see Ryan and Dylan, but we were 2 miles away from their house. She can also tell me how to get to our house from about 3 miles away. As we drive down our road, she will announce "not our house" and point to the houses until we get to ours. I am working on teaching her who lives in each house.