God's Creation

Each day, Lily's class has a "servant of the day" whose role is to help serve the class by passing out supplies, leading lines, etc.  When they are assigned to be servant of the day, the child also brings in an item from home for show and tell.  Mrs. Worrell changes the "share topics" that the items relate to each time they get through all ten kids.  In the past, these topics have been your favorite toy, favorite picture, etc.  It's a big surprise for the kids each day on what the show and tell topic will be, so they love it!  Currently, the share topic is "God's Creation," and the kids bring things from home that show something God created.  Last week, Lily told me kids brought things like rocks, leaves, berries, etc.  Lily was servant of the day on Monday, so on Sunday night when I asked what she wanted to take for her share topic, her face lit up and she said "Me!"  On the way to school Monday morning, she was so excited and telling me how she was going to pretend to pull something out of her book bag, and when the kids asked "what did you bring?," she will turn around and say "it's me!"  She was so excited about this, and she told me that afternoon it went great.

I couldn't agree with her on a better example of God's amazing creations than this precious 5 year old!

The Greatest Show on Earth

It's tax season right now which means Ryan and I work more than usual, and we don't get to do as much fun stuff with the kids.  However, a few weeks ago we saw that Ringling Brothers was coming to town.  We knew we needed to take last Saturday off and take the girls - it was definitely the right decision.  We took Lily and our nice Molly last year, and they both loved it; we knew Lily would be thrilled to go again, and we were right.  Mia has never been to the circus before, so she didn't really know what to expect.  For the first 45 minutes, she sat on the edge of her seat, eating popcorn with her eyes wide open.  She also got up and danced a few times with the music.  For about the last 5 to 10 minutes of the first half and the entire second half though, she was pretty restless.  She was exhausted, and the whole thing was just overwhelming; the sights, sounds and smells were too much.  She sat in my lap most of the second half.  When we left, she said she did not like it, but on Sunday (and each day since then) she has said she liked it a lot and wants to go back.  She and Lily have been playing circus, calling it "The Greatest Show On Earth," each day too.  Overall, I think this was a success.



Three girls waiting on the show to start.

 Most of the acts walking out at the beginning.  Both girls loved the elephants!

 Mia on the edge of her seat; she was captivated for quite awhile.

 Both girls loved the tightrope walkers, especially when they got on this bike.

 This picture shows why the circus might be a little overwhelming to a 3 year old.

 The elephant act; I loved them!

Lily said her favorite part of the circus was when they did "Fire It Up," a song just before they shot a human cannonball across the arena.  Mia said her favorite part was the acrobats; I think she means tightrope walkers.  I'm glad we were able to share this experience with the girls.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Last Friday night was the Daddy Daughter Valentine's Dance at our church.  Lily couldn't wait for her special night out with Ryan!  The week before, she, my mom and I had gone out shopping to find a great dress.  She loved this beautiful white one with pretty pink flowers around the waist.  Spoiler alert: I bought a 3T one as well so you'll see this dress again at Easter.



She was so excited!

 I love this sweet girl to pieces! 

 What a great pair.

 Lily loved the little pink corsage Ryan had for her.  It was a tad too big so it kept sliding around her wrist.  She didn't mind though.

 Love these two!

Ryan said they had a great time at the dance even though Lily didn't really want to dance a whole lot.  Lots of our friends have kids the same age, so they both had lots of people to talk with.  They had a delicious dinner, danced a little, talked a lot and played some games.  One of the games was something of a treasure hunt around the children's area of the church.  Part of what they handed out were pieces of paper meant to be "conversation starters" for the parents and kids.  Lily has loved pulling one out each day and discussing it with us.  For instance, one of the questions was "which of your friends do you think I like the most and why?" 

After the dance, Ryan and Lily went to Toys R Us to pick up a little treat.  After examining the entire store, she was very excited to settle on a Tinkerbell umbrella.  Her princess umbrella broke awhile ago, and apparently, she has been in need of a new one.  Anyway, it is very cute, and it's been fun for her and Mia to fight over play with.

This dance is such a fun Valentine's tradition, and it is part of the reason why Valentine's Day is Lily's favorite holiday (yes, even more so than Christmas she claims; for the record, she informed me this morning that Groundhogs Day is her third favorite holiday).  The other reason is because everything associated with Valentine's Day is pink, and there are lots of hearts and flowers; her words, not mine.  Such a girly-girl!  I can't wait for next year's dance when Ryan gets to take both girls!

Funny Mia

When Mia saw Ryan put on a tie last Friday, she wanted to try one on too! 

Mia and I were supposed to have a Mommy-Daughter date last Friday while Ryan and Lily went out but the power steering going out on my car on the way home from work that evening sidetracked those plans.  Luckily, at three she is pretty easy to impress.  Watching the tow truck come to our house and pick up my Jeep was very exciting.  She talked about it for awhile afterwards.  Then we met my brother and two of his kids at Steak and Shake which always makes her happy.  Not exactly how the evening was planned, but my sweet little monkey was happy as she could be.  Love this little girl!

Mia insisted on holding the new Tinkerbell umbrella while she and Lily played on their LeapPads.  I guess you never know when the rain is going to come...

Tea Party Girls

Lily and her best friend Jill have been planning a play date for awhile now.  Almost everyday after school Lily would ask me when she and Jill could play together.  Finally, Jill's mom and I were able to work out a time.  Beverly picked up both girls from school last Thursday.  They went to Jill's home for lunch and playtime.  Another little girl from their class, Grey, lives very close by so she came up after lunch, and the three of them had an adorable little tea party on the back porch.  Beverly sent these pictures to me.  Lily is on the far left, Jill is in the middle and Grey is on the right.  How cute are they?

Ryan and Mia's Date

Saturday night was Chick-fil-a's Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Date.  Mia was soooo excited about her date with Daddy!  She loved that she got to wear a "fancy" dress.  I helped her get dressed, she spun around and said "Oh, I am fancy!"  Such a precious little one.

On our back deck before heading out.

Look at her smile!  She was beaming!

A kiss for Daddy.

Meeting the cow during dinner.

After dinner, Ryan treated Mia to Haagan-Daaz ice cream; she loves strawberry ice cream.

They also made a little stop at Toys R Us where Mia fell in love with this little golf set.  She and Lily have been having a lot of fun with it today.

I think Ryan and Mia had a great time on their date.  While they were out, Lily, Mom and I went to dinner and shopping.  We found the girls beautiful matching Easter dresses; Lily's will double as her Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Dance dress next weekend.  She is really looking forward to her date too!  I am so thankful that Ryan loves spending time with the girls and showing them how they should expect to be treated some day down the road.  I know what it's like to have a great relationship with my dad, and I am very thankful that my girls will have that with Ryan too.

Miscellaneous Pictures

The last few weeks have just been "normal" around our house which is great.  Church, work, school, family, friends...life is just moving right along.  Not a whole lot to report, but here are a few pictures that I have snapped recently.



Mia found Lily's old dance recital costume.  She had to try it on.  How adorable is she?

 Mia's hand prints angel project.

 Lily also made a hand print angel and then decorated the page.

 At school, Lily drew this picture of our family by an apple tree.

 Mia's fingerprint apple tree.

 At Christmas, Mia received a craft kit meant to help with her scissor skills.  We used that kit to make these projects on afternoon.

 I took this picture simply because Mia makes me smile.  She is so precious!

 Is this one a future SU cheerleader?

 Or maybe this one?

Ryan has been playing soccer with the girls a lot in our front yard.  They absolutely love it.  For the record, I had nothing to do with Lily choice of outfits to wear (pink dress, rainbow striped knee socks and pink sparkly dress shoes).  She picked it and Ryan approved it.  I'm just saying...

 The future Hope and Abby!