Play Ball!

David took Olivia out for a game of catch last night and little Miss "I will not be ignored" had to get in on the action. She is determined not to be left out - good for her - but with her personality I don't think it would happen very easily! I decided a good t-shirt for her would be "I would rather die than comply." That sums her up. You could ask her to eat an ice-cream sunday for breakfast and she might agree but only if she could dictate what type of ice-cream, pick the sprinkles (do it herself actually) and make you draw a happy face to her liking on top of the whipped cream. Then she would eat the whipped cream and declare herself done. My Emily :)

Only 2 more days till school for Liv (14 for Emily)!

Go Seahawks!

We just got back from Olivia's open house and she actually said "I can't wait for Tuesday!" Her new school is awesome - we loved the layout, the staff and of course the teacher. Mrs. (get this) Theodorokos is young, hip, fun and really took to Olivia right away. Very nice first impression.

We also walked in to find one of our old neighbors from Japan there! My friend Caryn helped me make the decision to change schools but we had no idea our kids would be together!

Olivia also met a girl who just moved here from Delaware - all and all it was a great start to what I hope and pray is a better year for her.

As you can see they already rooked me out of $12 for a t-shirt but at least it's a cool one!

Sleep??? Over

If food consumption, giggling and decibel level are any indicators I would have to say the back to school sleepover was a big success! 9 year old girls are very silly - big girls one moment and little girls the next but always laughing no matter what. The good thing about having a 3 story house is that at 10:30 you can go to bed on the 3rd floor and tune out what is happening in the basement. I don't know what time they drifted off but it's 8:00 am and they are still sleeping soundly.

School orientation is later today - we will tour the school and meet Olivia's teacher. Fingers crossed!

New School

We finally told Olivia last night that we were switching her school this year. (For those of you who didn't have to listen to me complain everyday last year about her/our experience at LS count yourself lucky). It was a very difficult year.

She was pretty upset at first which broke my heart - David did such a great job of explaining our decision while I sat there trying not to cry. We told her the bottom line is that we want her year to be more about Olivia being in 4th grade than just 4th grade. Last year was all work, work, work and she had no time for anything that interested her.

Anyway, it's definitely weighing on her mind - making new friends and all but I know she will rise to the challenge and have a great year. She is an awesome kid and very outgoing. We are very proud of her.

She is having a back to school sleepover tomorrow with 6 - 9yr old girls! Yikes. I'll post photos if I survive.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Favorites

Emily and Caitlin had a great time hanging out together and discovering the magic of Disney! They really enjoyed seeing the Princesses and watching the shows - they were a joy to watch. Not so joyous was the night they took a bath together, got a hold of a razor and for some reason decided to shave each others bottoms! It took a while to piece that story together and to tend to the awful mess it created of their skin - where do they get their ideas? My brother's comment was "well, it's better than the time Chris and Nick were that age and Chris shaved Nick's tongue!" Yuck.

The girls watching the "Parade of Princesses"

So, we're in Epcot making our way to our dinner meeting spot David says "look who is playing King Arthur". There he is...my Dad picked out of a crowd to be in a show. My brother and I just looked at each other like "of course it is" - that kind of stuff always happens to him! The grand kids had a great time watching Grandpa on center stage and Emily is still quoting him with a hearty "yeah baby" (that was his big line).

Somehow or another I walked into the right place at the right time and asked if there were any Princesses around (they had just cancelled the show outside of the castle due to rain and I wanted Emily to at least lay eyes on one). The folks in the store looked at each other in a funny way and finally told Emily and I to follow them through this maze of curtains and when we reached the end we were in a huge decorated room and there stood Cinderella and Prince Charming! We were the only ones there and Emily was stunned! She could barely utter a word and finally just leaned over and hugged her, eyes closed. It was a great moment and one of her favorites too!

No day at Disney is complete without total exhaustion! She fell asleep while waiting with Emma for us to get off the "rockin roller coaster" in a room that was blasting Aerosmith tunes! This is not the only time my little Princess passed out :)

Hiya Mickey!

We're back! I chose this photo of the girls with Mickey to post not because it's my favorite or anything but because this fake backdrop of blue sky is the ONLY blue sky we saw on our whole trip! Yes folks, tropical storm Fay hung out with us the entire time. I'm not sure I have ever seen so much rain and had it last so many days - every day we thought she would be moving on to find she changed course again - just to be with us!

In spite of that we had a GREAT trip. We grabbed our ponchos and hit the parks with very little whining from the kids (and parents)! The weather kept the crowds at bay and we rarely had to wait in line for anything. Too much to share in one post so keep visiting, I have many stories to tell!

I wasn't kidding!

No, I wasn't exagerating...she really does stuff like this. But, as my friend pointed out only I would tell her to wait there while I got the camera. Sometimes you just need proof :)

Happy Anniversary

My husband just called to wish me a Happy Anniversary - oops, it really slipped my mind this year with all the vacation planning. It promped me to look through my wedding album and as you can see I did the best I could to snap some of the shots with my digital camera to share. They are not the best but bring back some fun memories of a great day.

Isn't 14 the year of a week long trip to a tropical island or something? (Oh yeah, I guess my trip to Hawaii in May would have to count for that.)

14 years ago...

These are some photos from my walk with Emily - too bad she is so camera shy huh? She played the part of the perfect supermodel "take my picture here...and here...and here" I think 3 yr old girls are quite possibly the bossiest things on the planet!

The girls (and I) are doing VBS this week and crossing off things on our to do before Disney list! Packing for success is an art form - moms get no credit of course but the difference between a great trip and a not so great trip I believe is in the little details (like fruit snacks, wet wipes and ponchos). They will appreciate me one day right?

Olivia asked me last night what my most favorite thing about her and Emily was (she agreed that it was a hard question and gave me some time to think on it). So I did. Funny to me that what I came up with was Olivia's dreaminess (her ability to see a spec of glitter and instantly transport herself to another world where fairies dust flowers with glitter and the queen of the land lives on a cloud....) and Emily's independent strong will (as her VBS leader told me this week "she really marches to her own drum doesn't she?"). The funny part is that would also be my answer if you asked me what drove me most crazy about my girls because as Olivia slips off into her own world she fails to see that she has walked into the street and is about to be hit by a bus and Emily just refuses to listen to me no matter what the situation! Maybe recognizing these traits as the best parts of them will help me not want to kill them the next time it takes 20 minutes to get shoes on or the next time I find Emily outside dancing in the driveway...naked. Maybe not.

Jib Ho!

Olivia and a few of her pals started sailing camp this week. As her counselor put it "this is experienced based learning" which basically means there are about 50 youngsters with zero experience sailing around on the Potomac with teens as their faithful leaders running into each other, capsizing etc. They are having a blast and I must admit it is pretty funny to listen in on the carpool talk. Of course my little dolphin Olivia loves it and now spends her nights online with Dad picking out our new family sailboat. She has renewed her plea for orders to Hawaii (anyone listening in Memphis?) and has her sights set high on being one of those oh so cool teens doing the bossing around in a few years.

Didn't we "get" to spend our summers riding bikes around the neighborhood in the oppressive heat because we weren't allowed to play in the house? Hmmm.

It's not just me!!

Ok, so I am compelled to throw my good friend Sharon under the bus today but I do love her tons! To all of you who accuse me of over planning or over thinking an issue, I actually received an email asking if we had any plans for the weekend following Thanksgiving...2011! Nope, it wasn't a typo! (In her defense she is begining to plan her now 10 yr old son's bar mitzvah, which is a pretty big deal.) But you see...it's not me...it's the company I keep!

So in the interest of full disclosure and for all my OCD type friends...I am thinking Olivia would make a lovely June bride so keep the second weekend in June open...2029!! That would make her 30, perhaps David will allow it by then.

By now you are wondering what this photo has to do with this blog entry? Nothing, it is in honor of our upcoming trip to Disney. This was from when we took Olivia (4 yrs old) and she loved the face painting so much, especially the glitter lips that she would only drink from a straw so she didn't ruin it! OY VEY (who loves ya Sharon)??

Emily, Mama and Grandma

These are the kinds of things I should run right out and mail but never do. Emily drew this picture today of she and I and grandma "in our bathing suits going to the pool." I asked her which Grandma and she said "the real one" and again I asked...which one is the real one and she got sort of annoyed and huffed and said, "they both are!"

Ok, clear as mud so I am sharing this with both of her very real Grandmas. I like how we get taller as we get older :) Clearly she sees me as more of an equal than she does the Grandmas...now they are somebody!