Miscellaneous Pictures

Lily loves the Belle and Tinkerbell dolls that Amy gave the girls for Christmas. Both girls "dancing" with their dolls in the playroom.

Watching Daddy put the swimming pool on our back deck.
Happy girl!

Lily loves to color, and she has gotten really good at it. I love seeing her creativity coming out as she colors and does all sorts of art projects.

When we picked Mia up on the last day of school last Monday, she was sound asleep in her high chair after lunch. They said she had played hard on the playground that morning, and was worn out. We also realized she had managed to sneak one of her Glow Worms to school that morning.

Precious!

When Life Hands You Ripe Bananas...

Make Chocolate-Chip Banana Bites with your girls! Throw some Mickey Mouse picks on top, and see how fast they get gobbled up.

As Lily was looking through one of her cookbooks (where could she possibly have learned that habit...?), I saw a recipe for these little muffins. Since we had a few ripe bananas on hand, we decided to make them this morning. The girls love to help me cook, and they did a great job taking turns with mashing the bananas, pouring in the ingredients and stirring. I hope they will both continue this love of cooking!

Lily's Graduation

Last Monday was the girls' last day of Parent Morning Out. Since Lily was in the oldest class and will go on to Pre-K next year, they had a graduation service for the kids in that class. Ryan, Mom and I went to watch. The kids were all so excited! They looked adorable in their little mortarboard hats too. Here's a picture of Lily happily talking to her friend Sierra before the ceremony started.
The director, Mary Jane, spoke for a few minutes and welcomed everyone. Then Ms. Mollett and Ms. Amanda walked onto the stage. They called each child's name and said a few kind words about each one. Here's Lily receiving her certificate from Ms. Amanda.

Showing off her certificate to everyone.

Congratulations!

Lily has been attending Bethany's Parent Morning Out for three years. It was a little rough in the very beginning, but she soon grew to love it. She loved going to school where she could play with friends, do art projects, learn songs and all sorts of fun things. We have been very pleased with this program, and we're thankful for how great they have been to our girls. Lily will start the 5 day a week half-day Pre-K at Atlanta Classical Christian Academy next year, and while we're all excited about this change, some of us (that would be me) can't believe my precious Lily is big enough to start "real" school! I just can't wait to see what this amazing little one's future holds!

Teacher Appreciation

Liz had this great gift idea for the girls' teachers for "Teacher Appreciation Week." Each girl picked out a flower for their teachers (they both have two teachers). On one side of the pot, I wrote "Thanks for Helping Me Grow," and on the other side "Love, Lily Hooks 2011" or "Love, Mia Hooks 2011." Then I just put a few dots around the top. They were so cute, and they turned out great!

Cooling Off

Now that summer is just around the corner, it's starting to warm up! Ryan had the great idea of bringing out the pool we bought a few years ago for the girls. We didn't use it at all last summer, so this was a welcome surprise for them. When Lily came out of her room from nap time, she said "I saw a pool in our front yard!" She waited for a little bit, but then we decided to let her go on and jump in while Mia slept. She couldn't wait!

A picture of the pool. It has a rainbow going across it that has a little sprinkler system in it. The sprinkler was odd to them for a bit, but after a few minutes, both girls loved it. Lily's favorite part was going down the slide. However, she liked to add her own little twist each time. Her favorite trick was jumping to it to slide down very quickly; here she is catching some air.
Splish splash!

Lily showing me how to "swim." A little more work is needed, but she's getting there!

She loves making a splash!

Such a happy girl!

After about 30 minutes, I had to wake Mia up (she'd been asleep for 2 hours) because we didn't want her to miss out on all the fun. She was slightly hesitant at first (probably because I had just woken her up), but then she was ready to have fun too.

Mia liked the ball slide a lot.

Lily loved the slide!

Big splashes!

Lily teaching Mia how to dive down the slide.

Giving it a try!

Making her own splashes!

I love watching the girls have fun together!

Having a blast!

Lily also loved jumping from one pool to the other.

Fun times!

The girls had such a fun time today, and they are already asking to get it out again. Playing so hard wore them out too! They ate an amazingly good dinner which thrilled me. I made an almond crusted tilapia; Mia asked for seconds, and Lily asked for seconds and thirds of it! With good attitudes and great appetites, I have a feeling we will see a lot of this pool this summer!

Rainbow Dinner

Recently I came across a website called Cookie Cutter Lunches that I am fascinated by. The lady who does this website is the type of mom I admire. She makes cool lunches for her kids everyday. Now, as much as I wish that could be me, I know it's not. But, I am going to try a few ideas. One of the neat things she does too is serve her kids lunches in muffin tins. I thought my girls would love this, and I was right! The blog lady has a cool theme each day, but I don't have all the neat tools she does, so I just took my best shot on our first go-round.

I made a "rainbow dinner." Each girl had a colorful cup for her milk, turkey (not really a rainbow color but different than all the others and added a bit of protein), carrots with ranch dip (in colorful plastic shot glasses; they love these!), peaches, ants on a log and red M&Ms. Talk about a major hit! They absolutely loved it! The best part for me though was the ants on a log. Both girls hated the celery (loved the cream cheese and raisins), but they both tried them without my asking - I couldn't believe it!!! I didn't have to prod, bribe or even ask...they just tried them because they were in the muffin tin!

I have used the muffin tin a couple of times since this first go-round, and I have met success each time. It's amazing what a simple little change to the ordinary can make for them!

Last Day of Gymnastics

Last Thursday was Lily's last day of gymnastics at The Little Gym. She has improved so much over this past semester. It has really been fun to watch her confidence and skills take off! Here are a few pictures from her recital.

Mia was fascinated watching all the kids. She wants to partake so badly!

They always have fun with noddles.
We noticed they intentionally called Lily last to do each of her routines. During her routines, she did moves that none of the other kids had attempted. On the bars, they helped her do a handstand (see picture below), and she also did a flip on the high bar. She told me later this was her favorite part.

On the balance beam, she did a somersault; again, no one else attempted it. I am so proud of her new found courageousness!

Mia couldn't hold out any longer, so she joined Lily on the floor.

Here's Mia giving it a go on the beam.

Talk about fearless! Look at the face of pure joy as she jumps!

Each child was given a medal. Lily was very proud of her medal. When we got home afterwards, Lily voluntarily said "Since I have a new medal, I am going to give Mia my old medal so she will have one too." Love it when she is so sweet!

Lily's class after they all received medals.

What a fun Spring it has been at The Little Gym!

Thank You Grandma Jan!

A big thank you to Grandma Jan for the girls' new matching polo dresses. They both loved the ruffles around the bottom because they twirl out when they spin around. They love when they get to match one another, and they both loved these dresses. Thank you Grandma Jan!

Just Precious

Sometimes I just look at my girls and my heart about bursts with how precious they are. Don't get me wrong, they have their moments! Most of the time though, they are amazingly awesome kids. Two quick stories of my heart bursting though:

1. About 12:30 Sunday morning, I heard Mia coughing, and I thought "that doesn't sound right." I looked at the monitor, and a second later she started throwing up. I ran in there, and sure enough, she had gotten sick all over herself and her bed. I got her undressed and cleaned up while Ryan took care of getting her bed cleaned up. When I laid her down on the changing table to put new pajamas on, she looked up at me and said "I sorry Mommy." I immediately said "Oh sweetheart, it's okay. You don't have anything to be sorry about." She replied "Okay." When the same scenario repeated itself about 30 minutes later, I got her changed again and she said "Mommy, go to rocking chair?" She just wanted to be held and rocked, so of course we did for about 5 minutes until she said "Go back to bed Mommy." Melt my heart!

2. On Tuesday, I was able to stay home from work to hang out with the girls. We went to the zoo because it was a beautiful day, and we had a great time. I didn't take any pictures while we were there since we go pretty often, but on the way home, I couldn't resist snapping a camera phone shot (see below) of Mia who had fallen asleep (we were stopped at a red light if you're wondering). What I love about this picture is the green lollipop that is stuck to her sweater. I had given each of the girls one of these lollipops as a treat on the ride home thinking that would help keep them awake and not mess up nap time...the best laid plans, right? For the record, it didn't mess up Mia's nap time. She was so exhausted from a few nights of not sleeping well that in addition to this 20 minute car nap, she slept for almost 3 hours at home.

Sweet Gifts

I completely forgot to put these pictures in the last post. The girls (with a little help from Bama) made the cutest bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day. Lily also picked a bright pink bird to sit on the flower pot; she was very excited about this bird and points it out to me multiple times a day. It is so adorable! On Sunday, they gave me a fabulous card (picked with a little help from Daddy) that has Tinkerbell on it and it sings. The girls love this card, and they are constantly opening it over and over to hear the song and sing along.

Showing off their gifts.

How sweet!

Mother's Day

What a lovely Mother's Day weekend! On Friday evening, we had the team that recently returned from Alaska and their families over to catch up and exchange pictures. There were 19 of us in all, and it was a great time. Ryan grilled huge, delicious burgers while everyone else chipped in with all the sides and drinks. It was a beautiful evening, so we were able to eat outside, the kids played on the playground a lot and we were able to sit back and enjoy one another. Somehow, it ended up with the men moving our office and dining room furniture out to make room for some new things coming. Thanks for your help guys!

On Saturday, Ryan had an all-day seminar up at the church, so I got to spend the day playing with the girls (and doing a ridiculous number of loads of laundry). We played in the morning and then met Liz at Steak and Shake for lunch. After lunch we headed to a playground we rarely visit, so the girls had a blast exploring the "new" place; we climbed a tree (okay, they only climbed to about my waist-level but they felt on top of the world!) and ran all around the playground. They were worn out by the time we got home for nap time; they slept great! This allowed me to read, watch tv, rest and enjoy the quiet. Ryan got home soon after nap time ended, and we all headed over to my mom and dad's house. I'm so glad I was able to spend some of Mother's Day with my mom. I love her to pieces, and I'm so thankful to have her for my mom! Wayne's family was there, so the kids all had a blast playing together. We watched the Kentucky Derby which was really neat, and then enjoyed a delicious dinner that Dad grilled. Another great evening!

Sunday was a third wonderful day. We had nursery duty at early church so we were in a hurry to make it on time (but we did!). After church, we headed home. I hate going to crowded restaurants, and they are always packed on Mother's Day, so we decided to make a simple picnic lunch at home. It was perfect. We ate on our deck and simply enjoyed being together. After lunch, Ryan headed to the office to get some work finished up, so the girls and I played together for a bit before their naps. They didn't rest very much, so I only had about an hour of peace and quiet today, but that was alright. We enjoyed playing together once they got up. Ryan came home a little bit later, and we headed to one of our favorite restaurants: Figo Pasta. It was delicious as always, and we enjoyed sitting outside on the patio. We are all loving this amazing weather!

This was a wonderful and simple weekend. We didn't even think to get any pictures which I can't believe. Oh well! We are so grateful for our moms; we love them dearly and appreciate all they have taught us. I am also so blessed to have my two girls. I love being their mom!

Escape Artist

Liz had the great idea of documenting our little escape artist at work so after nap time I asked Mia to show me how she climbs out of her crib.

Ta Da!