October 2016

Kara finished up her first season of soccer.  She had a lot of fun and actually scored a couple of goals (we won't discuss the goals she scored in her own net).  She's looking forward to the next sport season!

Emily has been having some issues with sleeping recently.  She will often wake in the middle of the night and tell us she just doesn't feel like sleeping anymore, which is very bothersome when it's 2 am.  Hopefully we figure this out soon!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year.   We spent most of the month preparing for Halloween.  We made a trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins and spent the Saturday before Halloween carving pumpkins.  The girls both ran the Monster Dash this year.  Kara ran the half mile with Dad, and Emily ran the quarter mile with Grandma.  It was a fun time.

Each girl designed her own costume this year.  Kara decided to go as a Magical Cheetah and picked out leopard print shoes, pants, and dress.  She also got some fire wings to complete the ensemble.  Emily wanted to go as Sparkle Girl and put on some pink pajamas that were covered in stars, sparkly shoes,  and finished the costume with a glitter covered mask.  On the day of Halloween, though, Emily kind of changed her mind and didn't want to put on her mask for her school Halloween show.  For Trick-or-Treating that night, Emily completely gave up on Sparkle Girl and opted for a witch costume instead.

Link to pictures

September 2016

September was a pretty exciting month.  We got peaches on our peach tree (first time since 2012), so we spent all Labor Day weekend picking, peeling, and freezing peaches.  If you visit, I hope you enjoy peach desserts!

The girls quickly fell into a routine with school.  Emily was pretty gung-ho about preschool at first, but she started getting separation anxiety after the first couple of weeks.  She would be fine right up until the time that it was time for class to start.  Then she would grab onto Mom (and Dad the one time he dropped her off) and sob until we would peel her off and run off.  Fortunately, the teachers told us she'd be fine 30 seconds after we left, though she always seemed a little upset when we picked her up.  She seems to be getting better about it, though.

Kara, of course, is loving school.  She runs off to get in line everytime we get to school, never with a glance back.  She's also been enjoying playing soccer this season.  At this age, it's mostly just the girls running around in a big cluster after the ball, but Kara has fun.

Emily started a dance class (see the video below).  She's only gone a few sessions, but she seems to love it.  She likes to show off her dance moves whenever she gets a chance.  Emily is pretty into board games.  Her favorite these days is Chutes and Ladders, but she also enjoys Memory, Candyland, Hi Ho Cherry-O, and Chess (she's just learning how to set up the board and how the pieces move).

Emily quote:
"I'm just not thinking about it." Emily's response when someone asks her to do something she doesn't want to do, like clean up after herself, say good game when she loses, or get ready for school.

"I did a great job today, give me a high five!" - Emily to her dance teacher after class one day.



Link to picture

Back to school... for everyone

This was a month of first days of schools!  Kara had her first day of first grade on Thursday, August 18th.  Kara is really excited to start another year of school.  Emily had her first first day of school this year on August 31st.  She is starting preschool at the Rec Center, which meets for a few hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.  That means...  Mom actually has time to herself on a regular basis!  So exciting!

Mimi came out to visit us for a couple of weeks this month.  We got to hit all kinds of sites around the city.  We hit the Celestial Seasonings factory, Denver Museum, which was awesome as always, the Hammond Candy factory, the Denver Aquarium, and afternoon tea at the Huckleberry.  It was quite the whirlwind visit!

Kara started playing soccer with some of her friends from teeball.  So far she's having fun, but it's mostly just a bunch of the girls running around after the ball.  But she's having a blast!  Kara also lost her 3rd tooth.  We think she looks pretty cool with the gap in her smile.  :-)

Link to pictures

Fall 2014

Happy fall, everyone! The girls had a very eventful fall.  We had so much going on, we had to split it into two blogs (see the other blog for Halloween).

The weather most of the month was quite mild with no snow at all.  That made for some good leaf fun!  There was also a fun visit to the Butterfly Pavilion with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Amy.

Kara started the month with her last couple of soccer practices for the fall.  She's still not 100% clear on the rules (she thinks it more fun just to chase after people than to actually kick the ball), but it's a great way for her to burn off some energy.

Daddy and Emily took advantage of the extra time Daddy had by going to the rec center on Fridays to swim.  Emily is very fearless.  She'll climb out of the pool and jump off the side, whether Daddy is ready or not!  Emily has also figured out running and jumping, mostly.  She can now run at a pretty good clip (she can't quite keep up with Kara yet, but she's working on it), and she has also figured out how to jump, kinda (check out the videos below).  She is also becoming much more opinionated.  We're in the phase now where she knows what she wants, but doesn't really know enough words to communicate what she wants.  Ah, good fun.

Link to pictures

September 2014

The month of September was crammed with activities!

We'll start with Kara's month first. Other than our trip up to Breckenridge, Kara started preschool (she'll be in the Stepping Stones program Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at the Rec Center); she had her first soccer practice (Monday and Wednesday afternoons); and Kara had her first camp-out with Daddy (surprisingly, Kara actually let Daddy sleep).

Emily is becoming much more vocal recently and is not afraid to make her opinion known.  She has been saying "No" for several months, but we were excited when she finally started saying "Yeah."  Emily tries so hard to keep up with Kara.  She is constantly trying to run and jump with her big sister.  She's getting pretty close!  Emily is also starting to show some interest in the potty.  She hasn't gone in the potty yet, but she has peed and pooped right next to it.  Mommy and Daddy aren't sure they're ready to undertake that process yet...  Emily's verbal skills continue to develop.  She's gotten pretty good at mimicking the words or sounds that we make.  It's just a matter of time until she's speaking in complete sentences!

On the less exciting front, Daddy's company lost out on a major contract, and he is out looking for another job.  We're hopeful he can find a job where we don't have to move, but we'll see.

Link to pictures

Summer Already?

Kara finished with preschool, but has been keeping very busy with classes and camps.  She has a weekly ice skating lesson on Thursdays, Vacation Bible School (going on this week, only been to one, but she had a blast), and weekly farm camp.  She's also starting swim lessons next week. So much fun to be had!

Emily's new favorite game is sticking things in her mouth (like dirt and rocks) and then sticking her tongue out to show Mommy and Daddy and have us wipe it off.  Let's just hope this is a phase.  Emily seems to pick up a new word every day, but she still mostly relies on the old tried and true method of pointing and grunting.  She also shakes her head no.  Sometimes it's actually when she means no. :-)  She's becoming quite confident in her movements.  She can climb and go down the slide by herself.  We've even seen her dribble the soccer ball all over the yard.  Check out the videos!

Emily has long periods of just wanting to be carried around and essentially crying/whining because we're not doing what she wants.  This might have to do with not being able to communicate well with us, and teething.  Still, she's generally a very sweet toddler.  Mommy was putting her down for a nap and they both heard Kara crying (she had bumped her head on a table corner).  So Mommy and Emily went down stairs to check on Kara.  After seeing Kara crying, Emily walked over and gave her a big hug (complete with pats on the back) and kiss (puckered lips and all).  It was about the sweetest thing Mommy had ever seen.

Kid quotes:
Kara - "I'm sure Uncle Trey is the biggest person in the world" (shortly after stating she had the longest hair of any kid in the world)

Mommy - "I love you with all my heart."
Kara - "I love you with the middle of my heart, Mommy.  In the middle, I love our family. On the left side, I love everyone at Mimi and Papa's house.  On the right side, I love Grandma and Grandpa. In the bottom tip of my heart, I love stuffed animals and toys and things."

Kara - "I just want everyone for every second to play with me."  Shortly after complaining about having to help out with chores around the house like brushing her teeth, washing her hands, and pulling the plug after bath.  Ah, kids.

Kara - "I wish I was naked all the time. I could pee better, I could eat better, everything would just be better."

At a birthday party, Kara stopped to help a boy who had dropped his goody bag.  He replied with, "Now I know why they call you Kara.  Because you really do care."  Don't worry, Daddy has his eyes on that smooth talker...





Link to pictures