Date Night with Daddy!

Dave and I decided that it would be better for him and Chloe to clear out of the house for the majority of Solana's slumber party. So Chloe got a special and rare treat - a one-on-one date night with her Daddy! She was super excited and felt so special. She wore her new fancy Dora the Explorer dress and put on her fanciest date manners.

 I don't remember having date-nights with my Daddy. I don't think it was really a thing back then but I can just imagine how exciting it would have been. They went to the movies. Heaven help me but I can't remember which one. Afterwards, though, they went out for pizza.

 Chloe's "kid's" pizza was giant! She hates messy fingers and always eats her pizza with a fork.

After the date they came home and were just in time for cake and ice cream. Chloe couldn't have cared less that she missed the majority of the party. She had a wonderful night.

Reading Time

Chloe has really taken to reading this year. She loves it and wants to read all the time! We've been borrowing those little Sunshine books from the library (you can see a pile of 20 or so on the bottom right of her bookshelf) and I'm amazed at how well she does. Granted, she's using context clues and the sentences are repeated but she's paying attention to the letters and…it's so much fun!

Here she is reading to Bluebell, aka. "the fluffiest foot stool ever!"

Of course, she has a fantastic role model in Solana. Solana's last report card was so funny. Her teacher commented that she's never seen a student read so much and that Solana will probably read every book in the library before the year is out! That girl LOVES to read! She used to get in trouble at school for reading when she was supposed to be doing other things but she's gotten that under control. At home she reads on the couch, on the bed, on the toilet (I'm trying to stop that because she'll sit there for 30 minutes), walking down the hall, at the table (also a no-no), at the restaurant, in the car, walking through the parking lot (well, she would if we let her), etc. etc. And she leaves books in her wake. I've started picking up books and keeping them in my room to make her earn them back. LOL! Seriously! Have you ever heard such a thing? Anyway, it's no wonder Chloe wants to read. It's probably her best bet at spending quality time with her sister!

Chloe Goes to a Party!

Chloe was invited to her friend, Lydia's, birthday party. She was so excited! This was her first school-friend birthday party. And it was a princess party so she got all dressed up. She really felt like a Princess and wanted to take lots of pictures.  

All the girls had their faces painted but Chloe kept saying, "no thank you" when asked. I suggested she get her hand painted and she was down with that.

She really liked it. It was a great experience for her!

Shaving Cream Fun

The girls brought this idea home from Literacy night at Chloe's school and boy did they enjoy it! It made the kitchen smell pretty amazing, too!

Literacy Night at PVS

Since becoming involved with the PTO at Chloe's school I'm much more aware of all the cool stuff the PTO does. In the past I probably would have blown off an event like Literacy Night because we read at home all the time. But the Principal and coordinators really talked it up at the PTO meeting so I decided to be supportive of the program and take the girls. And it turned out to be lots of fun for them! We started the evening with pizza in the cafeteria, which was a big hit. 

Here they are using a variety of instruments to make sounds in/with water. I'm not really sure what this has to do with literacy but they really enjoyed it. Ringing the bell under water was particularly exciting.

There was a word hunt all over the school This was a great scanning exercise for Chloe and she just about screamed every time she was a word on the wall.

Solana got to practice her patience by waiting for Chloe to scan the page to locate the words.

We sat on a blanket and the girls used props to retell the story I just read to them. The books were super cute and the girls did a great job listening and retelling the story.

 The final activity was writing in shaving cream. There was more rubbing going on than writing. This is definitely something we can do at home!

Valentine's Day 2014

I love Valentine's Day! It's so much fun! I know some people shun it because they say they don't need a special day to tell people that they love them but I think they're just a bunch of party poppers! I don't see it that way at all. In our family we tell and show how much we love each other every day. But all the red, pink, hearts, sweets, cards, crafts, and more hearts for Valentine's day are just way too much fun!

The girls had the day off from school for a Teacher Work Day so we had all day long to do fun Valentine activities (that is, after they both got in trouble for saying "No!" to Mommy [Chloe] and refusing to do as she was told [Solana] - just keepin' it real, people). After a time out here and a scolding there we had a fantastic day! :-)

We cut out hearts from some Valentine themed paper. It was actually a reuse project using scraps from Chloe's class party last year. Then we used the hearts to make mobiles hang from the ceiling and confetti for the table.

 And here's our beautiful table, complete with flower arrangement from Daddy. For lunch we enjoyed valentine egg pizza with orange juice. Yes, I was a little desperate for a heart lunch and had limited supplies on hand. They're somewhat desperate but also kinda cute, I think.  For lunch dessert the girls each had a candy from the Esther Price chocolate box Daddy gifted them.

We blew up a TON of balloons left over from Solana's class party this year. Oh my gosh I was feeling light-headed! Leticia gave me this great idea for hanging balloons that involves a needle and thread. Look at how nicely they hang in front of the window! And that's with zero tape on the walls. Yay!

During Chloe's "quiet time" Solana and I mixed up some sugar cookie dough and then right before dinner we cut out, baked, and decorated our lovely heart cookies.

 Look at how cute they are! I tried to make mine prettier than Solana's but she's just too artistic!

Dinner was pretty yummy, too, if I do say so myself. Actually, Dave said so many times ;-) I made oven baked hot wings. These are dipped in butter/hot sauce and are so incredibly good!!! Homemade blue cheese dressing, mashed potatoes, carrot sticks, and celery sticks. 

And check out these hot dogs I made for Solana's class party. hahahaha! I don't know why I think they're so hilarious! The kids got a kick out of them, too. 

By the end of the day we were all hearted out and, surprisingly, loved each other just the same as we did when the day began. All those hearts sure were fun, though!

Chloe Gymnastics

We joined the YMCA in January. This winter has been the coldest ever since we moved to Ohio. We've had several weeks where the temperature is often below zero, rarely above 20, and if it is above 20 it's raining. The girls have missed 7 days of school already. We don't play outside in the winter too often but I usually get out to run at least twice a week or so. Last winter was fairly mild and I trained for my half marathon all through the winter without too much problem. Anyway, I've been feeling stir crazy for the lack of exercise and Dave must feel the same way because he started researching gym memberships.

When we first moved to Ohio we were members of the Y and worked out a few times a week. Solana also took some swim and gymnastics lessons. As soon as I was put on bed rest at 18 weeks, though, we  quit. 4 1/2 years later we're back! There are two locations near us and the farther (20 min) is a larger and newer facility. Dave and I tried a yoga class together at the newer facility and it was ok but the girls were horrified at the behavior of the kids in the daycare. We had tasked Solana with looking after Chloe and upon our return she exclaimed, "I don't EVER want to come back here! These kids are horrible!" We didn't ask her to point out which kids because all of their parents were right behind us waiting to sign out their little monsters (according to Solana) from the child care, as well. We hurried out and, after a more lengthy conversation with Solana at home, Dave quickly resolved that we'd never put the girls in there again. 

Fortunately, there's an alternative in the smaller less crazy older facility nearby. I went there for Pilates last week and ended up signing the girls up for swimming. I also took Chloe to gymnastics on Friday. This is her day off from school and the time works out just perfectly. This also happens to be the exact same gym and teacher where my pregnant-with-twins self sat and watched Solana doing gymnastics 4 1/2 years ago! It didn't hit me until I was sitting there watching. The flood of emotions and memories was so overwhelming that the tears were streaming down my eyes. (I'm sure the other moms thought I was completely insane.) - Remembering what it felt like to be pregnant with twins before everything went wrong and mourning the clueless grief-free person I used to be. - Thinking about how blissful everything was before we pulled Solana from gymnastics and how hard the following years were for her. - Feeling guilty wondering if she'd have liked to stay in that class. - Feeling incredibly happy for and proud of Chloe running around and doing all this cool stuff after everything she's been through. 

It really was quite the experience sitting there watching little Chloe just.being.a.kid. I look forward to many more classes for the girls at the Y. My sisters and I used to take swim lessons at the Y when we were kids. I have happy memories of it and hope they do, too.

Muscle Surgery

Over the winter break I started noticing Chloe close her left eye whenever she read books or looked at pictures. My parents happened to be visiting at the time and they noticed, as well. Chloe's vision changes with the wether (literally) so I watched for a few days but after a week became nervous. I moved up her appointment with Dr. Bloom and he decided it's time for another muscle surgery. The problem was that her left eye was turning in again and this made it difficult for her to use both eyes together. The thought is that adjusting the muscle so that both eyes can point straight and she can more easily use them together. This is her second muscle surgery. She had good results after the first one so we're hopeful.

This was right after she fought tooth and nail against Dr. Bloom marking her left eye with his marker. She can be such a little turd.

 Chloe was so funny after they gave her the first sedative. She was acting so silly, drooling, giggling, and unable to sit up. I couldn't help but giggling at her.

There's something so sweet and innocent about sleeping children. Add an IV and hospital gown to the mix and your heart just melts.

Grammy and Grampy Visit!

We were supposed to travel to Texas for Christmas but we decided at the last minute to stay in Ohio. Grammy and Grampy decided to visit us! We had a lovely visit and here are some of the highlights:

We're all dressed up and heading out to dinner! Unfortunately, I had to set up the camera on the counter, which isn't high enough, so the picture is sort of looking up all our noses. :-)

Dave and the girls always put out cookies and then read the Night Before Christmas. 

 Presents!

We went to the zoo one day. It.was.cold.But it was nice to get out of the house for a bit. It wasn't so bad after we had been walking around, either. The only bad part was eating lunch outside as soon as we got there. Maybe we should have packed hot soup instead of sandwiches…

My parents were so cold! They're not used to the Ohio cold weather. I sewed them some fleece pajama bottoms and I think they loved them!

 Grammy reading to the girls.

We spent a lot of time hanging around the house. There's not too much else to do in such cold weather. I was worried that my parents might be too bored but I think they enjoyed the relaxation. We had time for a few selfies, at least.

More relaxation at home. Grampy even dozed on the couch a few times!

 

 Cooking with my mom. We made my favorite soup, Tomato, Kale, and Barley. And after all the healthy vegetarian meals, my Dad even said he slept better at night!