Princess Tea

There is a little place in La Plata called The Royal Tea Room. I went last weekend with friends for lunch. I'd heard from friends that they will do a "princess tea", which seemed like a great idea. I thought about doing it for both girls, but Leah is just a little too toddler-ish to be expected to sit through something like that. So, when I made the reservations, I just included Lacey. It was Dee, Kristin, Kristina, Jessica, Grandma, Lacey & me.

Grandma had bought Lacey & Leah play jewelry sets, but the earrings kept breaking. Lacey has wanted earrings for a while and I've been telling her when she turns 5 she can have them. Well....I decided yesterday was a special day and thought she could get them to show off at the tea. Grandma, Lacey & I headed to the mall. On the day after Thanksgiving. Amazingly, the parking wasn't too bad. And, the crowd wasn't too bad.

Lacey picked pretty pink earrings. Here she is getting ready to get it done. (Yes, she wore her Snow White dress for the Princess Tea.)
She was crying after, so I don't have an "after" shot for you. But, she really recovered quickly & was happy with them.

Here is Lacey smiling at her special Princess Tea snacks. They did a great job for a little girl. The owner came out before hand to ask what she liked & didn't like so we could make sure Lacey would be happy with her treats. There was a star shaped turkey sandwich, a heart shaped peanut butter sandwich, a little hotdog, grilled cheese, etc. Yum-o.

The whole gang.....Jessica wearing Lacey's special tiara....

Lunch with Santa

It seems that I am always saying "I can't believe how long it's been"....when I post. But, I think I have new motivation. I found out that I can have my blog put into a nice book. That will be awesome to have done for the kids. Motivation.

Today we went to Lunch with Santa through the 22nd Annual Hospice Festival of Trees. We apparently went in the wrong way because we almost missed lunch! We spent a lot of time in the room with Santa and a very cool train set up.....and the lunch was down the hall! But, we got to eat even thought they had already put the food away.

The girls were great with Santa. I was amazed that neither one was scared or nervous.



Lacey told Santa that she wants a bike for Christmas. He made sure to talk to her about not riding in the streets. ;-) Leah wasn't very talkative with him, but has said "Elmo" anytime someone asks her what she wants.

The girls got their faces painted....and Grandma joined in the fun as well!
We walked through the hall where all of the amazing trees were. Wow. They are beautiful.

Almost Heaven....West Virginia....

….Blue Ridge Mountains…Shenandoah River…

I remember listening to that song on the drive to WV long, long ago when I was maybe 4 or 5. We all piled in the station wagon to go visit Mom’s family. No car seats. Just kids all over the back of the station wagon.

Aunt Annie – Mom’s sister – had lived in Houston for years. I know if I try to guess, I’ll be wrong. 25 years, maybe? Anyway, she & Steve retired and moved to West by God Virginia January 1st.

Dee & I have been trying to coordinate a visit for quite some time. We finally went the last weekend in September. We drove one route and Dee/Buck took a different route. They had left about 20 minutes earlier than us….and we made it to Annie’s about an hour earlier than them. Even with stops for kids.

The girls were good on the drive. And, we were driving through beautiful scenery after only about 2 hours into the drive. Butch said the drive was easy & good….until the mountains. It was still pretty and all….but was more stressful.

This was the first time Annie had met Lacey & Leah. As we were pulling into the driveway, Lacey --- who used to be so shy --- said “Aunt Annie’s gonna love me”! And, as soon as she got out, ran over to give Annie a big hug.

That evening, we just relaxed on their front porch. They have a feeding station for the deer, so the girls “helped” with filling that up. Then we waited (not for long) for the deer to show. The girls stayed fairly quiet, but even when they made a loud noise, the deer just looked up to check things out.

Unfortunately, it rained the entire next day. That was our only full day & we were supposed to go to the park. I’d made a trip to Michael’s and picked up crafts to entertain the kids, so they were set. And, later….we let them put on their rain boots & coats to go splash in puddles (although, I don’t think they really splashed much).

We had spaghetti with Aunt Annie’s homemade sauce on Saturday night. Yum-o! She uses brown sugar in her sauce. I do, too, but obviously not as much. I think I’ll add more next time I make it.

Sunday morning we had a big breakfast before packing the car up and heading out. I’m so glad we went. I asked Lacey what her favorite part of the visit was. She said “everything at Aunt Annie’s was my favorite part”. Sweet girl.

I’m not really sure how to describe it, but I felt somehow closer to Mom during that time. Partly the visit to West Virginia and partly Aunt Annie – who seems so similar to Mom.

I know we’ll head back for a visit again before too long. Soon, we’ll be planning our “reunion” for all of that side of the family. Can’t wait!

Family Room

The other day, Butch asked me what I thought about having a small version of our Christmas party. We haven't had one since before I was pregnant with Leah -- partly because of the mess 2 kids create & the stress trying to keep the house clean in preparation for a party would create. But, we both would like to try again this year.

We've also been considering a switch from DirecTv to Cable since I think we can get a good deal. (We have cable for the internet, so we might get a price break if we do both with 1 company.)

These are the things that prompted me to try rearranging the furniture. To do what I was thinking of, we would have to re-route the cable/DTV wiring, so we need to know where it should go before having the cable company come out.

And, this new arrangement allows some of the kids mess to be hidden a little more. Yes, I realize we will still have a mess. And, I'm fine with having a messy, lived-in house while our kids are little. However.....this might work well.

Remember when looking at the after pictures that the TV will be moved to the opposite corner. I'll mention where in a picture below.

View from the kitchen -- near the sunroom -- into the family room -- before:
Same view -- after:
View from kitchen -- entering from the foyer -- into the family room -- before:
Same view -- after:

Behind the couch (yes, I need to organize it, but will wait to make sure we like this before doing so...and will wait to get the TV moved from there first, too):

Standing behind the couch, looking to the kitchen. The corner to the left is where the TV will go.

I think this could work. What I'm not sure of is having the couch facing the kitchen when you are watching TV. But, I think it will be okay. And, I know that the kids toys will still end up in the middle often, but at least there is a true play area to "hide" it when needed.

Thoughts?

Summer is Gone

Wow. Summer is done. August flew by. And, I haven't posted anything on here since the end of July. So, I had to take a look at my pictures to figure out what all you've missed. :-)

At the end of July, we went to Chesapeake Beach. I had taken one of the Thursday morning's off when the girls were home with Butch. I'd hoped for a few hours of fun before coming home for a conference call. But....the weather wasn't great....drizzling off and on, so we only stayed about an hour.


There was this little stream that the girls were playing in a lot.



And, Lacey loved looking for sea shells.
I found a couple pieces of sea glass, too.

The beach is called Brownie's Beach. It's not usually too crowded & was free....until August of this year. They have added a per person fee now for non-county residents and for the 4 of us, it would be over $30. Not bad, except the kids sometimes only want to stay for an hour or so.

Like this visit. Lacey was happy to keep playing & looking for shells, but after about an hour, Leah was pointing to the exit, saying "Mimi, done pool". And, since it wasn't a great day, she won.

I'm sure we'll go back next year....$30-35 isn't too bad to give the girls some fun. :-)

One of the things I'll miss most about summer is the fresh corn! I think Leah will miss it, too! She can finish an entire ear on her own .... and still ask for more.

At least we will still have a few nice days this week. I love the Fall & all the festivals there are in the area, too!

Church

One weekend in August, Butch went out of town. I decided to be bold & try the kids in the gym childcare. It worked!!! Neither kid even looked back at me. I got in an hour workout.

The next morning, I tried them at church. It's been ages since we have been. The main reason we hadn't been going is that the girls were not fans of the child care there. Since I send them to Lisa's 5x a week, I wasn't willing to have 1 of our 2 days spent with tears from going to child care.

However.... they did great at church, too! I had them in the church with me for a few minutes. When it was time for the children's sermon, Lacey didn't want to go up for that. Leah was another story. She walked right up...never looking back. Sat down and listened and watched the kids. So cute. Then, she followed the other kids back to me. I walked them to the child care & they went in pretty easily.

We went back a couple of weeks later. Leah again walked right up for the children's sermon. Lacey wanted to, but was afraid, so I went up to the front pew to sit with Lacey. They fussed a little about the child care on that day, but eventually stayed without tears. We've missed 2 weeks now because of dad's party and family camp with Chuck & Nancy. I'm planning to go back this weekend, but with Lacey's cold, I'm not sure I'll put her in the nursery.

Lacey Started Pre-K!

In April, I had registered Lacey for school. But, Pre-K in public schools here is really designed to help kids that need it (financial, ESL, etc.). So, Lacey was considered category 3 and we weren't sure she would get in.

Her friend, MK had gotten in (she had been a premmie). Leading up to MK starting, I was telling Lacey that MK would be going to school and we didn't know if she had a space, yet. She wasn't happy about that! So, I was glad when we found out there was a space for Lacey! She started on Tuesday.

I wasn't sure how she'd do. She has always been so shy. But, the last month or so, I've noticed her coming out of her shell more. She did better at dance class and gymnastics class. I was debating on whether I should go watch her get on the bus.....or if that might make her more nervous. I went.

I also wasn't sure how Leah would do. Everytime we talked about school or the bus, Leah would say "me, too!". Um, you aren't old enough. Sorry kiddo. But, she did okay. Of course, she now insists on taking a book bag/back pack to Lisa's every day.
Listening for the bus....
Lacey & her "best buddy" MK:

She did great! Climbed right on with no fear!
Sniffle, sniffle. I was close to crying, but stayed in check because Miss Lisa was there. Honestly, I'm sure I would have lost it if she wasn't.

Her class is afternoon, so she is no longer getting a nap! It's been 5 days with no nap. You'd think she'd be passing out by 8:00. Nope. Still fighting sleep. One night she fell asleep around 9:05, but that has been the earliest. I was talking to another mom at the open house last week & she said her son had fallen asleep before 6:30 that night.

On Wednesday, I went to my first Open House. The only bummer about it is that they prefer you don't bring kids, which makes sense (noise level). But....after the "meeting", there wasn't anyone in the classroom to show us around. So, the parents that brought their kids had a tour guide, but I didn't. I just wandered for a couple of minutes. I got to see the dress up area that Lacey talked about. And, I saw her cubbie. She is the only kid in Pre-K with a name beginning with L. I thought that was odd.

Lisa was closed on Thursday & Friday (knee surgery). Lacey didn't want to go to school, so I told her the police would come get me if she didn't go. She got dressed then. She was like that again at the school, but she went in. Poor Leah didn't get much of a nap because by the time I got home, there was only about 90 min. before I had to get Leah up to pick up Lacey. So, on Friday when Butch was home with them, we decided she could ride the bus from Lisa's. It at least gives some extra time for Leah's nap. Turns out that MK was riding the bus from there, too. (We can't change the stops or the bus at this age.)

So....1st week of school is done. She did great and I'm so proud of her! Of course.....she already has a cold. It literally started last night.

Gymnastics

Both girls took gymnastics classes this summer and loved it. Lacey took a bit of encouraging each week, but each week, once she got into it she didn't want to stop. There were only 3 kids in her class. Some weeks, it was only her.
Practicing for a cart wheel.
Hand stand.....


Getting her medal!
I signed her up for classes again for the fall. She's taking dance lessons again, too, so she'll be a busy girl!

Leah absolutely LOVED her classes! She had a few in her class. There were a couple of boys that were OUT OF CONTROL!!!! It drove me crazy because the mom never bothered to do much with correcting them. Annoying.

Balance beam...

Forward rolls....


Back flips....
Getting her medal....
I signed Leah up for a Mommy & Me combo class for the fall. It's 25 min. of ballet and 25 min. of gymnastics. She missed the first class since we were at Family Camp, but she'll go this Saturday. Can't wait!

Trip to Pittsburgh

Chuck & Nancy had hoped to visit for Lacey's dance recital, but he'd had surgery (on his knee, that turned into a little bit more) a few weeks before, so they decided not to come. We were overdue for a visit to Pittsburgh anyway. :-) So, we planned to go for 4th of July.

We were supposed to leave on Thursday morning. But, Leah’s toe issues changed that. Butch was leaning toward canceling the trip, thinking it was just too much to deal with. But, I knew that Lacey was really looking forward to it. (So were Chuck & Nancy, of course!) Leah had been fine throughout her ordeal, so I knew she’d be okay with a drive and visit.

I hadn’t gotten all of the packing done before going to the hospital.....and it didn’t make sense to go home after being discharged from the hospital (heading south just to head north again). So….I tried to remember what all was still needed and we made a list for Butch. After packing everything up on Friday morning, Butch & Lacey headed up to the hospital to rescue Leah & me!

The girls were fairly good for the trip. Both of them slept a little. And, we really only had 1 stop (I think)…for food, bathroom, diaper.

After dealing with tracking down the medicine for Leah, we all got settled for bed that night. The 4 of us slept in the basement. There is a pull out couch, but I didn’t think the girls would do well totally on their own on the floor. So, we brought our air mattress, as well as the girls’ new princess air mattresses. We tried to lay them all out side-by-side. But, both girls were being momma’s girls and wanted to sleep right next to me. Butch ended up on the couch ….. Lacey slept with me and Leah was in her bed next to me. Amazingly, that first night was a pretty good night of sleep. And, since it’s dark in the basement, the girls slept late! (They needed that since it was after 11:00 when we go to bed the night before.) The next couple of nights’ sleep weren’t as good, but nothing too horrible.

On Saturday (the 4th), Chuck & Nancy hosted a little party with family. But, before that started...the girls "helped" Nancy pick some berries.
The weather was a little less than desirable….only about 70 degrees if I remember correctly. But, still a good day. We had the moon bounce set up for the kids (Lacey’s & Leah’s 2nd cousins were happy to jump around, too).

I was surprised at how much Lacey wanted to play with the boys. She seemed to really enjoy spending time with her cousins.

Sunday, was spent around the house most of the day. But, the girls were a little antsy, so we headed to the park early that afternoon to let them burn off some energy.
We ordered pizza that night and ate out on the patio. Lacey passed out on the lounge around 6:30 p.m. Later, we started a fire so we could roast marshmallows. Yum-o! Lacey just wanted them by themselves, but the rest of us were smart enough to want S’mores!
We had to be up pretty early on Monday morning since Lacey had swim lessons starting that night. The drive back went pretty well again….more stops, but not too bad. We got back home just in time for Lacey to go to swim lessons. There was literally enough time for Butch to change, get Lacey changed & them to leave.

Now that the kids are getting bigger, I can tell the trips will get easier. Hopefully next time, they’ll cooperate more with sleeping.