morgan's awards

Morgan's teachers do something a little different for awards. They call each child up and list the awards they will be receiving. Morgan was a doll. She stood up there for her 15 seconds and smiled with excitement. And then when I wanted a picture of her so I could send it to Michael, this is what I get.

Finally! A normal smile.

I admit I was a little worried about Morgan and Kindergarten. She showed no interest in reading and I knew she was a social butterfly. Yeah, she's had her lollipop taken away a couple of times for not listening, but she's still a five year old. Recently I've noticed her really taking an interest in books and reading them to us. Like this...

It's amazing the progress she's made in 4 months. I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us.

no training wheels

Addison wanted to ride bikes. I told her she could, but only if she tried it without her training wheels. She's tried before and she's been terrified. But I wasn't letting her chicken out this time. Me, Michael and even cousin Matthew took turns holding on to the back of her seat. Sometimes we'd let go without telling her. Ten minutes later and off she went.

She was a little wobbly and crashed into Matthew's truck a few times, but she was doing it. 

I was so proud of her. She finally conquered her fear. She was growing up. And then I got teary right there in the middle of the street.

Not to be left out, Morgan wanted to show us how she can ride her bike too. Still with training wheels, but still. 

 She also wanted to show us how she can go through two outfit changes. 

My two ragamuffins.  

Hands down, one of the best days EVER for Addison. Probably for me too.

thanksgiving celebration

Addison had a little Thanksgiving celebration at school today. It started with a song in which she had a speaking part. A speaking part she volunteered for and then memorized last night. I was proud of her. You better believe I recorded it.

Afterwards we all sat down and had a Thanksgiving feast. Sitting at her placemat was this sweet letter about what she is thankful for. I think I'm going to laminate this and pull it out every time she decides she doesn't like us anymore.

Two of the proudest parents ever.

This little Pilgrim. She has no idea how thankful we are for her.

happy birthday

Yesterday was Michael's birthday. He doesn't like making a big deal out of birthdays, but he should know by now that I don't let a birthday go unnoticed. The girls made this little video for him. We love you Michael!

They also made about 5 cards for him and gave him some Tennessee license plates for his new ride. Oh, the new ride. I forgot. I got a new car. Meet Pearl.

Since we have two kids and two cats, we thought we should have two Pilots too! Which means that Michael is now driving the old Pilot. With an 8 year upgrade, it's like a new car to him and he loves it!

decking the halls

I don't have an official after shot of the tree, but I have some cute ones of the girls decorating. I did the same thing as I did last year. I let them put on ornaments and decorations until their heart was content. Then when they went to bed I rearranged everything to my liking.

Morgan wanted all of the ornaments that she had made to be right in the front. Her favorites to look at are the ballerina I picked up at the Nutcracker last year and the Rockettes that Michael and I got on our New York City trip in 2007.

Addison's favorites are the pickle and the two Tennessee ornaments. Figures.

They both are in love with the singing stuffed animals that line the floor in front of the tv.  Morgan likes to play them all at the same time. Rudolph is our favorite. Check out this cute video of us the girls singing.

Don't be jealous of my glorious singing. I had to help them with the words a little.

swinging

Here is Morgan's first time swinging. I sound so country, but I'm really not. Ok. A little.

look who's reading

I cannot tell you how much I beam with pride when she reads me a book. It is one of the best feelings in the world.

happy birthday daddy!

Today is Michael's birthday. He really wants no part of it. He deleted all records from his Facebook account and told me not to tag him in any posts. He should know that I don't listen when it comes to birthday's.

Happy Birthday to a wonderful husband and an amazing father. We love you!

mom's day

I love being a mom. I love waking up everyday and seeing these faces. It's not always easy being a mom, but the hugs and kisses make it all worth it. My heart is filled with so much love because of these two girls. This was taken outside church Sunday morning.

I got a bunch of love on Mother's Day. For weeks I've been getting cyptic messages about the Mother's Day gifts they were working on at school. Addison told me she painted a box, but wouldn't tell me what color. Morgan kept talking about a tea pot. And then Thursday afternoon I received this pin from Addison. I wore it to work on Friday and she was so thrilled. I also wore it all day on Sunday.

Morgan gave me a sweet angel picture she made using her hand prints with a poem on the back. She also gave me a card with a painted teapot, a cute note, and a tea bag taped inside. To end the day the girls put on a show for me.

A big thank you to Nana Patsy for making cards with the girls and teaching them this song. It really was the sweetest thing and made my Mother's Day that much more special. We love you!

And mom. You're a great mom and a lot of who I am today is because of you. Thank you for teaching me the skills to parent my own children. We're very lucky to have a Grandma like you!

another bike ride

Round two of the birthday bike. I still think this is the coolest thing ever! Thanks to Mrs. L, the school director, for doing this for the kids.

the birthday bike

All year I've heard stories from Addison about the birthday bike. I've seen the birthday bike sitting in the hallway of the school, but I've never seen it in action.

We were sitting there eating lunch and this bell starts ringing. All the kids rush out and line up in the hallway. Michael and I had no clue what was going on. The kids know the drill. It was time for the birthday bike ride. We watched as Addison went up and down the hallway, kids from all the classrooms cheering her on. That is the director of the school giving her the ride. I love how they make it all about Addison. 

Now I know the significance of the birthday bike. I wonder if I can get a ride on my birthday.

birthday song

Someone is excited about their upcoming 5th birthday. We've made a paper countdown chain and everything.

bike riding

Look at this sweet girl riding her bike. She calls it her old bike because it used to be Addison's. It doesn't matter though. She loves it!

candy land

I've been sick and have had zero energy for the last 3 days. Good thing playing Candy Land doesn't take that much energy. This was the first time Morgan has really played with us and understood what she was doing. Every time she would pick a card she would get this excited.

I love the pure joy in her face. And how she still says "lello". It was like every card was the best card. I want to bottle up these moments.

For the record, she won.

christmas program

Addison especially was looking forward to Monday night. She had been practicing at school at was super excited to sing in the Christmas program. For once she seemed like she would get up on stage and perform without being nervous. I was nervous. I was afraid she would freak out and bail at the last minute just like she normally does. But she did so good. She still acted a little shy and reached out for me a few times during the performance, but she made it through. I was so proud of her.

This was Morgan's first real performace and I didn't know what to expect. I knelt down in the aisle to get some pictures of her and was for sure she would come running towards me when she spotted me. Instead she stood up there and rang those jingle bells with a smile on her face the entire time. I think I was beaming from ear to ear.

I told Addison that Zarkle the Elf would tell Santa if she didn't take a couple of pictures afterwards. I know that's bad, but I need all the leverage I can get with her. She was super excited though so I think that helped as well.

After the show we took the girls to dinner. Morgan will pose for a picture any time.

When we got home I convinced them to take one more picture in front of the tree. They mostly agreed because Zarkle would be in the picture with them. See him in the tree?

Lucky you, I got the entire night on video. I tend to get a little choked up when the girls make me super proud, but this night was all about smiles. Morgan actually sang the song. And the wave at the end was the cutest thing.

You'll notice that Addison did get a little shy. She's does the classic reach and the finger in her mouth. She was able to pull off some of the sign language for Silent Night. As soon as her songs were over she broke down in tears. I was only 4 feet from her and I couldn't get her off the stage soon enough.

I have a feeling that Christmas this year will be the best! Both of the girls love reading Christmas books at night in front the tree. They love waking up to see where Zarkle is. They love pressing the buttons on the musical holiday stuffed animals and dancing around the house. I can't wait to see their faces Christmas morning.

morgan swims

Here are the videos I took of Morgan's final swimming lessons. Now she swims so much her eyes are red and she can barely catch her breath. It wears Michael and I out just as much.

final swim

Addison's refresher took 8 days. I'm really glad it's over so I don't have to undress and dress two children everyday. I was so happy to see her jump in the water this year and really enjoy it. Sometimes so much that she doesn't want to rollover, float and take a breath.

Here's a little video of her last day. Morgan was sitting on my lap and I love how she giggles, laughs, and even "uh oh, spaghetti o's" when Addison is flipping and flopping in the water.

Morgan still has about 3 weeks left. Now the task will be to keep Addison occupied enough during Morgan's lesson so she doesn't whine because she can't go in the pool. This ought to be fun.

swimming lessons

I've been looking forward to this week and dreading it at the same time. The girls started swimming lessons on Monday. Addison jumped right in the water and picked up where she left off. She'll go for a week or two just to be reminded of the important stuff - rolling over for air, resting and floating, looking for the wall. Then maybe she'll learn a couple of new things so we can have more fun in the water. I have to remind myself how far she's come in two years. That made it a little easier when it was Morgan's turn to get in the water.

Just like I expected, she screamed and cried the entire time. Every word out of her mouth was mommy. I knew it would be a rough 10 minutes. She had a little trouble with her breath control and swallowed some water, but made it through. Yesterday we went, and just like with Addison, I was in shock to see the improvement in just one day. She still cried, but this time she stopped to listen to Kristen and prepare for the next step. She only swallowed water one time and was holding her breath so much better.

The video is a little hard to watch, but I wanted to take it so I can document how far she's come. Not one mommy this time.

Everything that Kristen is doing has a meaning. The hand in her face, the counting, allowing her to stay under water. What you don't see in the video is all of the hugs, high fives and reassuring that she does. You can check out the ISR site if you want to know more.

who wants to smile?

Morgan was standing in my bathroom this morning, counting the million things of Chapstick in the drawer. Why do I have a million? Because I'm addicted and somehow they all seem to disappear. I grabbed the Flip to catch her on camera.

After this 20 seconds of pure cuteness she confiscated the Flip and then ran all over the house taking videos. I watched those clips. The best one was of me, sitting on the floor half dressed, putting on my purple tights (actually, their more like magenta). You won't be seeing that here.

This is being put together in the backyard this weekend. An early birthday present for the girls.

If they knew about it they would be so excited. But they don't. And I'm bursting with excitement because I can't wait to see their faces.

on her playlist

The girls stayed with my mom this past weekend while Michael and I went on a little getaway. We spent the weekend with all my co-workers and their significant others celebrating the fantastic year we had last year. There was good food, golfing, spa treatments and plenty of laughs. We both had a great time, but came home no more relaxed then when we left on Friday.

The girls love going to grandma's house. They don't cry as much as they used to because they now understand that we are coming back. They went to visit the alligators at the prairie, the park and in general were spoiled rotten. I guess while they were in the car they listened to Lady Antebellum.

Addison spent all of Sunday night belting out the words to Need You Now. I was dying laughing. What's sad is I think she was more on key than I am.