sister love

Making bracelets and necklaces. Skylar made a necklace for Bia and herself to share. She described it to Bianca like this... "I made this necklace for us to share Bia! See, there are S's for Skylar and B's for Bianca. And do you see this heart? Its there because I love you. And do you see this other heart? That's there because you love me." Be still MY heart.

Favorite Things, Etc.

BIANCA:

Favorite Color: Yellow

Favorite Shoes: A Tie Beween Her Yellow Converse &
Her New Bearpaw Boots

Cartoon: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Toy: Little People Town

Food: Breakfast: Granola & Yogert with Blueberries

Lunch: Pizza

Dinner: Chicken and Green Beans

Person to Talk To: Uncle Charlie

Song: Me & Julio - Paul Simon (she knows all the words &

can sing it for you!)

Book: Barnyard Dance - Sandra Boynton

Activity: The Little Gym with Momma & her friend Caroline &

Caroline's Mommy.

At 25 Months, Bia can...

*Count to 10

*Sing her ABC's

*Copy each and every move her sister makes

*Put her own shoes on

*Undress Herself

*Help put her toys away

*Climb up into her carseat

*Talk like a 4 year old

SKYLAR:

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Shoes: Gold Slip-ons or her new Bearpaw Boots

Cartoon: Dinosaur Train

Toy: Play-Doh or any prop she can use to make
up a story. Or anything to make crafts.

Food: Breakfast: Cinnamon Life
Lunch: Pizza
Dinner: Enchiladas

Person to Talk To: Grancy

Song: California Gurls - Katy Perry

Book: Cinderella

Activity: School! She loves all her little friends.

At 4 years old, Skylar can:

*Unload the dishwasher & set the table

*Climb up into the car and buckle herself in

*Dress and Undress herself

*Get ready for bed

*Talk on the phone for 15 minutes

*Snap her fingers

*Get the mail

*Sing along to numerous songs

*Back talk like a teenager

*Write most of her letters and numbers

*Boss her sister like no tomorrow

*Do hand-claps with Momma

new bike. new persepective

i spent so much time training for this last race by riding the country roads out by our house. we live on the outskirts of town, just on the border of the country, and i can literally go out and ride for 25 miles, and see maybe 5 cars. however, i do see other cyclists, horse farms, old schoolhouses converted into homes, tons of animals and butterflys, corn fields, beautiful flowers, etc.

i learned something new about myself while on these excursions. i've always thought of myself as the city dweller type, but on these rides, i cought myself envying the people that live in the old homes with the big lots, tons of space to play outside, and quiet. it was so peaceful, i've been longing to get out out of this neighborhood with the cars rolling by with loud music 24/7, and the goshdarn barking dogs next door. i am so sick of the noise!!! yes, im converting to a country girl. can you believe it?

by the end of the day, i am so overstimulated from all the noise coming out of my children, neighborhood, dogs, neighbors, music, aaahhhhhhhh! my ears literally hurt and im irritable.

wouldn't it be lovely to be able to build a house where you want with the materials you want, without having to ask approval of your neighborhood commitee? im ready to start building exactly what russ and i want!

slackers!

all my friends have been slacking on their blogs!!! instead of sitting around waiting for someone to post something new, i thought, hey, i will update my blog, that has been severely lacking as well.

even though fall weather still hasn't graced us with its presence, we are in full fall effect, with our schedules running our lives. skylar has school 2 days a week...

and has started playing soccer for our local YMCA.

and bia has started gymnastics...

(OMG!!! i have a super cute pic of her to insert here, but its just not working. grrr)

she has one of her little baby friends in her class, and its just too cute for words.

we've attended numerous kid birthday parties, play dates, etc. bia and sky now have friends that are siblings, and that makes for one happy momma when playdate day arrives. now i get to drop them both off and be by myself for 1.5 hours!!! wooot wooot!

swell foop is doing really well, and we are preparing to release some new fall items. check the site soon! i've also picked up some design work. i'd almost forgotten how fun it is to do kitchen and bath design. im really excited about this current project.

i'm still working out on average of 2 hours/day in training for my next triathlon, which will be taking place this sunday.

in addition to my wonderful husband and kids being there to cheer me on, my awesome mom is coming in for the event, and is going to take me to get a massage the day after. aaahhhhhhhh. moms are the best.

russ is staying busy at work, and has also started training for a 6k that we will run in together the day before halloween. who wants to watch him run a 6k in his ballerina costume? i do!

baby no more

there is absolutely nothing babyish about skylar

anymore. no more chubby fingers, no more chubby

cheeks. she actually has 6 pack abs! the little lady

can now pump on the swing, a major accomplishment,

and she can snap her fingers. there is no more baby talk,

and i miss it!! i miss her calling school "stool." and

when she got a kick out of her friend caroline

"taroline" for calling her "skylo." no more "t's" in place

of "c's"... no more "baby bianta." and she's even

starting to wipe my kisses off. where did the time go??

i was so anxious for her to be a bit more independent,

but now i want my baby back, just a little bit.

2 years!

russ and i celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary

on 4/20! my parents watched the kids so we could

have a nice dinner out. it was a fantastic night!

c

a visit to skylar's school

part one:

i had my very 1st parent/teacher conference

were i learned a lot of new things about my

3 1/2 year old! generally, i knew she was a natural

born leader, (russ and i joke about the fact that

she'll probably be the leader of a small country

when she grows up) but i didn't know how influential she is!

apparently there is 1 of these kids in every class,

and she's the one this year. a little ring leader.

little miss skylar, is... well, motivational!! (bossy isn't

the best way to describe it) her teacher tells me that

she is very enthuseastic and loves to lead the other kids

to get involved in all types of activities. i laughed through

a lot of this meeting, because it brought me back to

my kindergarten class, where my teacher mrs. lantz,

hated me because i was a "leader." what an awful

thing to be, right?! skylar apparently gets it from me. ;-)

a quick example of her influential nature: every day,

at the end of school, they sing a special clean up song

while they put the toys away. (i remember singing the

exact same song when i was a student at this pre-school

26 years ago!) "clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere..."

well, sweet sky decided she wanted to sing jingle bells instead.

she also convinced all the other kids to sing jingle bells,

and guess what?? ... its now the new clean up song.

how funny is that?! haha! regardless, her teachers

say she gets along well with all the kids, listens well,

and is always happy to participate. i'm so glad they aren't threatened

by my little 3 year old, the way my bitchy kindergarten teacher

was. ;-) they love her spirit & they are happy to have her. yay!

part two:

skylar had show and tell this week! she had some very

good options from home, but decided the one thing

she really wanted to show to her class was her baby

sister, bianca. this melted my heart. i'm so glad i was

able to sit in and see skylar show her baby sister off

to her class. she told them all about how bia follows

her around at home, how she gives her baby sister

under dogs in her swing, how they play dress up together,

and do ring around the rosie (which they performed

for the class while wearing princess dresses). my favorite

part was when skylar took b by the hand and lead her

around the circle of children, introducing her to her classmates,

one by one. what good little manners she has! it was just

precious. such a fun day at the pre-school.