Dance and Preschool Music Performances

Big M was so excited to ballet dance to a "Tinkerbell" song during one of her recent dance classes. It's great that her dance teacher offers 2-3 performances during classtime each year in addition to the dance recital in May. She still enjoys dancing and we loved watching what she has learned!

Our smiling ballerinas...Big M and her friend, Marin.

At TLC at The Church at Battle Creek, the kids put on a nice Christmas music program. They sang 6 songs! Big M was an angel and really put a lot of effort into her singing...just another one of her favorite activities!

December 2010

We visited Santa at Utica Square and both girls were very excited to see him. Santa has the cutest little house there and it's fun watching the moving "Nutcracker" scenes located throughout the shopping area. Like I suspected, Little M clammed up and didn't want to have much interaction with the jolly fellow. After seeing him, she was very concerned about his nose though...not sure why, but she still talks about it from time to time! Big M brought along her "my little pony" so Santa would know just want she wanted him to bring her. It was fun getting hot chocolate (for the girls) and coffee for us after seeing Santa...maybe it will become a new tradition!

Both girls had fun helping put ornaments on the tree this year. They did lose interest after a little while since there were just more ornaments than they had patients for, but it was a good time while it lasted.

Our Elf on the Shelf, Elvis, has joined us again this year. We never know where he'll be when we wake up. And, the girls know that he's keeping an eye on them and reporting all of their good and bad behaviors to Santa. Hopefully, there will be mostly good reports this season and for the upcoming year!

Turkey in Disguise?

Both of big M's schools sent home a blank turkey for us to decorate/disguise as a family project. So guess what we did on our Friday off of school?...we glittered, feathered, sequined, and pompommed the two birds to send back to school! We were supposed to disguise them creatively, although I think it's still pretty obvious that each one is a turkey. We did decide that one should be a girl and the other a boy. While they still really look like a very colorful turkey, Big M did have a great time decorating them. I know she can't wait to get the glitter out again for another project!

"girl" with a dress and hair bow

"boy" with t-shirt and baseball cap

Little M's 2nd Birthday!!

Little M will be turning 2 at the end of the month. With so much going on-- trips, holidays/Halloween, and the many other Fall activities, we decided to have her party a little earlier in the month. She was so excited about her Dora party. We started the party off with playtime in the backyard with some of Little M's neighborhood friends and cousins. Then it was time to play pin the party hat on Dora! It was a little scary for the little ones, but it was the easiest Dora game Mama could come up with.

Then it was time for some Dora cake or cupcakes, followed by opening up presents. Little M did a great job of blowing out the candles all by herself. She really got into opening the presents too...Mama was so impressed. She was blessed to have lots of family and friends around her to celebrate her 2nd birthday. She's really been enjoying her new gifts too!

Outdoor Playtime with Kaydence in the first photo and Ms. Sandra in the second.

Little M Pins the Party Hat on Dora

Opening a Dora card

She listens as we sing "Happy Birthday".

Blowing out the Candles

Mama, Little M, Dada, and Big M celebrating.

Happy Birthday Little M!!

Little M's First Haircut

Little M had her first haircut this last week. She wouldn't sit in the chair without Papaw, who was visiting. I had gotten a little frustrated with the stringy look of her hair and decided that it was time for the "baby" to get her first haircut. For some reason, I guess I was just holding out with her. While I've been noticing that she's growing up more and more all the time, the haircut really changes my baby girl into a toddler girl!

BEFORE PHOTOS

AFTER PHOTO

Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch

I can't believe it's been since mid-August since I've put anything new on the blog! September just flew by with my part-time work, the girls' activities, school, and church. October is busy too, but I'll try to get at least a few posts on here. And, hopefully I can get that summer blog background changed to something more seasonally appropriate!

We visited a fun pumpkin patch called Carmichael's in the Bixby area yesterday. The girls had a great time. Carmichael's has a petting zoo, pony and camel rides, hay rides, a maze, and lots and lots of pumpkins. The girls had a great time picking out pumpkins, and Big M actually rode a pony all by herself! We had beautiful fall weather and it was a fun outing. We can't wait to do it again next year!

Another Project Finished...

I finally finished Big M's bulletin board. Unfortunately, she's been asking for one for about 3-6 months. She's wanted somewhere to put the artwork that she finds so difficult to throw away or recycle. Anyway, it's done and wasn't very time consuming at all. I got the idea from a friend, who had made one for her daughter. I didn't think it was going to be easy to make the thumbtacks, but they just turned out cute. And, Big M loves them! If only, I could keep her from readjusting each piece of artwork every few minutes.

The new bulletin board.

The cute little thumbtacks!

Big M's First Day of School!!

Big M had her first day of PreK today. She's been talking about going to the "big" school for a while, but seemed a little timid when we actually arrived at school this morning. But, who wouldn't? She met her teacher, Mrs. McMorris, on Tuesday evening and seemed fine with the classroom, but it was such a relief today that she came home very happy and excited about another day in PreK tomorrow!Big M and Little M as we are heading out the door for school.

A quick hug before we head out. :)

Big M and her neighbor/classmate with their new purple backpacks. They were waiting outside the gym to head to their classroom. I was told after school today that "no 4 year olds go to the gym or the library". I guess they are already learning the rules of PreK!

The ice cream cone cupcakes I made to celebrate the first day of school. We can't wait to eat one!

Summer Projects for Big M's Room

I had thought about making curtains and coordinating pillows for Big M's room. Well, I actually started and FINISHED the projects! She loves everything and since I hadn't sewn in a while, there was definitely room for improvement on my part. But, I'm happy to say that I made the pillows and small valance without a pattern. I was about to pull my hair out a few times due to a broken sewing machine needle, tons of thread wrapped underneath the bobbin spool, and few other unnamed mishaps. At least the curtains and pillows are done. We have one other project....hopefully I'll have it completed soon!

Purple square pillow with pink, cream, and green trim.
Rectangular pillow with cream grosgrain ribbon

Small Valance

Roman shade with ties

Same window/curtain---just different view.

Saying Bye-Bye to Dada's Car

M&M helped Charley say good-bye to his BMW this week. He's now the proud owner of a silver 2010 Toyota 4Runner. He's looking forward to the 4x4 capability of his new vehicle when the weather gets cold and icy. The BMW was a special car...we purchased it on our first trip to Europe before kids and drove it on the Autobahn. Unfortunately, expensive repairs were soon on the horizon, so it was time to move on. Happy Driving Blue BMW!

Summer Fun

I decided it was time to post a few random photos of the girls...I haven't been so good about updating the blog lately.

The girls visited the Tulsa Zoo earlier in June while I was gone for the day to a Breastfeeding Symposium. Charley caught some good photos of the girls that day, which is sometimes a challenge!

Of course, he also got a great shot of M&M's favorite animal at the zoo...the Giraffe!

Big M recently enjoyed a play date with a little girl she met at VBS at FBCBA. They had a great time playing at our nearby playground and splashpad. The weather was perfect...not too hot and not too cool. We can't wait to get together with them again soon!

In late spring, we started a sunflower plant from seed. Last year, this wasn't too successful, but this year it has been a different story. Big M has really enjoyed watching her sunflower grow and grow and grow. This picture was taken in early July...hopefully we'll remember to update towards the end of summer!

It's hard to believe that summer is half-way over. So sad for us, but I guess that means we've really been busy!

Happy 4th of July!!

We were able to enjoy a 4th of July parade at Big M's preschool today! It was fun seeing the kids wearing their patriotic decorations and parading around the building...even the little babies were wearing special patriotic attire! Here's a sweet pic of Big M and one of her neighborhood and preschool friends, Kimberly:

Here comes the parade....

Aunt Nat's New House

Natalie, my sister, moved into her new home in "The Village" area of Oklahoma City on Friday. We headed over to help her unpack and get a few things done on Saturday. It was great to see her cute little place. While the move did not go as smoothly as she would have liked, she's now got her "own" place. The girls enjoyed seeing Aunt Natalie, Mamaw, and Papaw and of course, the house. Here's a little photo of them "helping"--


Congrats Natalie on your new home!!

Going Potty

Little M, totally caught me by surprise last night. After getting out of the bathtub and not having a diaper on yet, she pointed to the toilet and strongly indicated she wanted to sit on it. I am trying not to get to excited or worked up about it, and I realize she's only 18 months old (still my baby if you ask me). But, she definitely wants to do what big sister does, so who knows? She may just decide she's had enough of the diaper sooner than we expect! I'm not going to push the issue, and she'll be in charge of this one. My little girl is growing up...sad, but true.

A Day to Remember

So starting the day off at 3 am made the day memorable, but adding the storms on Wednesday really made the day one we would never forget. We were so happy to get Big M in pre-K after waiting in line at 10 pm. Luckily, Charley took the 10pm-3 am shift and I traded with him at 3 am and successfully got a morning Pre-K spot.

Later on that day, we headed to Stillwater for Big M's recital rehearsal at the Seratean Center. Her tap class performed their Wheels on the Bus number and soon after we were headed to the basement for a safe place to wait out the storm. Little did we know how big the storm was. With little cell phone reception down there, we later learned there were 24 storms in Kansas and Oklahoma that evening, 18 of which were in OK. It was a crazy evening and we had some great little girls and company as we waited out the storm in the hot, muggy basement with many, many others and their pets. We waited in the basement for almost 2 hours!! We were safe, but so happy when the storm had passed and we were able to get out of there.

Such a long day, but one we'll always remember...

It's a BIG week!

I'm stressing just a little...well maybe alot. There's so much going on this week before school and dance are officially over. Charley and I will be taking turns camping out to get Big M into pre-K at the nearby elementary school tomorrow night....very few spots for the number of children needing them. Of course, it's supposed to start raining and this will all be so much fun sitting in the rain! After being up several extra hours, we leave for Stillwater for the dance recital dress rehearsal, which will end up being another late night. Finally, recital will be on Fri. and Sat. evenings and I'll be so glad to see Big M dancing to "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo". It's been so much fun continuing dance in Stillwater, but I'm ready for the driving portion to be over. And, I'm ready for some dry, sunny weather along with it! So, I'm sad that we won't be going to Stillwater nearly as often, but relieved that we won't have to make the almost 1 1/2 hour drive anymore.

Mother's Day Tea

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since posting....

Big M had a sweet little Mother's Day Tea at her preschool today. We enjoyed crackers/cheese, cookies, fruit, and lemonade together followed by the kids' performance. They sang two songs and said a poem. Then they shared their special gifts for us. The first was a cute towel with their handprints all over it...to remind us how little their hands were when they were making messes! The second was a sweet little card with more handprints. It was an enjoyable event with Big M, who was happy I was there, but couldn't wait to get to her Cinco de Mayo party later that day!

Of course, I forgot the camera, but I posted a few photos taken from my phone...not the best, but it's a pic!