Worms In A Princess Bucket

For some odd reason I never thought being a mother of two girls would mean that I would have to deal with worms on a regular basis.  They spent the day in fluffy dresses, running through the rain, splashing in puddles and gathering worms into a princess bucket.  I guess that pretty much describes their personalities right there.  The worms are more Red Fish's thing but there are mud splatters all over New Fish's outfit.  I guess my girls are more of a combination of the sugar spice and the snails and puppy dog tails.

Chores

I am finding it difficult to make time for the girls to do their chores.  Having a kid in school ALL DAY is rough.  I miss her terribly and I feel like she never has enough time to play so I struggle to get anything done after school.  Part of me knows that chores are important and that she has to learn responsibility so I keep fighting the battle and making chores a daily necessity.

Just a little list for the record keeping portion of my blog.

1.Cleaning rooms/making beds
2. Setting the table for dinner and clearing their own plate at every meal.
3. Putting their clean laundry away.
4. Practicing Piano
5. Cleaning the playroom
6. Picking up their bathroom
7. Feeding the dog
8. Speech practice (Red Fish)
9. Homework
10. Reading
11. Math workbooks (this does not happen every day.)

Cute Soccer Player

 The girls are allowed to choose one activity at a time.  Red Fish still loves soccer.  Fall soccer is beautiful and warm.  She is on a all girls team this year since they split the genders after kindergarten.  She is the only little girl her age from our neighborhood who is still interested in soccer.  She is a little sad none of her friends are on her team but she is making new friends. They have referees and they play on a much bigger field now.  The game has gotten a bit more intense. Red Fish makes a very cute little gap toothed soccer player.

Online Preschool

This year New Fish is participating in an online preschool program.  She plays games for 15 minutes a day five days a week.  She is flying through the program and it has been interesting to see how well she knows how to use the computer.

Zoo Day

 We are still squeezing in the last of our summer to do list.  There is still one hike, another swim day and the aviary left on my list.  The fall list will be underway soon.  The nice weather will hopefully hold out a little longer. Thing 1 and Thing 2 came on our zoo day adventure with us.  (They are both going to have younger siblings soon so I am going to have to come up with more names.) I was surprised at how long the kids made it at the zoo.  We took lunches and made a whole day of it. I don't have any pictures of real animals because I was too busy chasing my own little animals.

Tap Shoes

 New Fish and I have been tap dancing in the family room.  I am definitely not a gifted dancer but we have been having a lot of time.

We watched Singing In The Rain for family movie night and the girls tapped through the whole thing.  I've been trying to make a list of all of the great movies we should watch with our kids.  Any suggestions?

FIVE

 This little girl is five today.  It goes by so fast.  New Fish wanted a new big girl room for her birthday.  She started talking about it almost a year ago.  No more baby room with fish on the walls.  She wanted it to be pink and golden-fit for a princess.  I planned on painting the walls a light pink but Two Fish insisted that we might as well make it as pink as possible. Now it is definitely PINK. It is far from subtle.  Paining over the fish was a huge pain because they had to be sanded off the wall.  It took much longer than planned.  I was happy I got it all done in time for her birthday.

I just can't imagine my life without this sassy, spunky, brilliant, beautiful little girl in it.  She makes me laugh every single day.  She is loving to the point of driving people crazy but she has a huge heart.  She can't hold it inside.  She has recently started reading chapter books like Magic Treehouse.  She is scary smart and I have a hard time keeping her busy.  She makes friends wherever she goes. She is never afraid of talking to children she has never met.  She adores her older sister and her cousins.  She loves babies and wants to spend as much time as possible around small children.  New Fish dances and sings through every day. She is feisty and charismatic. She is a very picky eater and if she had her way she would spend every day with her Daddy and make him carry her everyplace. She loves a challenge. She doesn't put up with any garbage from anyone and she knows just how to push most people's buttons. She loves books, princesses, snuggling, all things girly and to make people laugh. I'm convinced she is the most fabulous five year old on the planet. I am thankful for every day I have had her in my life. 

My Favorite Thing

For New Fish's fifth birthday, Red Fish asked me to bring her to school to eat lunch with the first graders in the cafeteria.  I thought it was the sweetest thing that Red Fish wanted to take her on a "lunch date." We bought lunch together and they wore matching outfits with unicorn tshirts.  New Fish could not have been more thrilled. It was a perfect little birthday celebration.

 After Red Fish's soccer game we had cupcakes.

5 and 90

 We celebrated my grandfather, Bockum's 90th birthday with my extended family.  It was more family than we have had together in years.  We had a big BBQ in the backyard with everyone.  New Fish shares a birthday with Bockum- they are birth day twins with an 85 year gap.

 There was a little bit of swimming.  Two Fish was kind enough to get in the pool with the kids while I finished putting up decorations.

 We ate dinner and chatted and relived old memories.

 My cousin K has her birthday the day before New Fish.

The birthday twins did a little tap dancing since Bockum is a tap dancer and New Fish just started taking lessons.  I hope I can tap dance when I am ninety. If I could pick and choose what my children remember about their childhood, these are the kinds of things I want them to remember. 

Fancy Dog

 Our dog has given up.  The estrogen is overwhelming around here. He is a fairy princess one day and a unicorn the next.  He doesn't love it but he tolerates it well.

Family Day

 We spent the morning at a nearby animal musuem.  The girls love animals.  They loved the massive bug collection as they have just started a bug collection of their own.

 There was a live animal show while we were at the museum.  The presenter gave clues about the animals and then brought the animals out for show and tell.  Red Fish could hardly contain herself during the lecture.  She ran straight to the front when the presenter invited the kids to hold the animals.  She let a tarantula walk all over her and held a snake.  It was gross and she loved it.  New Fish pet the snake and lizard but there was no way she was going to hold a spider.

 We spent the afternoon up the canyon with our sketch pads.  I would have like to draw at the museum as well but we didn't have our supplies with us.  There needs to be much more drawing our lives.  We used pastels to sketch the waterfall and then pencil to draw different leaves.  I need to start remembering to take sketch books on our adventures.

Mommy Date

Two Fish and I each took one kid on a date tonight and it was my turn to take New Fish.  We have been getting a lot of one on one time lately.  I was really nervous that New Fish would be really bored and probably a little difficult after Red Fish started 1st grade.  I was worried about what it would be like to have only one child at home.  I could not have been more wrong.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE having New Fish home by herself.  I had no idea how great this youngest child gig would be.  I love having a little buddy around and it is entirely different than I thought it would be.  It makes me wish I got this same time with Red Fish but I guess we had our alone time before New Fish was born. One on one time is special at any age and I will take as much as I can possibly get.

First Dance Class

New Fish has started a new tap dance class.  She has been waiting for this.  She loves to dance and sing and her fondest wish is to become a rock star.  Tap dancing is just one rung on the ladder she imagines for herself.  It is adorable to see her excitement for this class.  My kids are allowed to pick one activity to participate in.  New Fish is still doing swimming lessons, playing some piano with me and goes to preschool. She has a full schedule of friends and fun ahead.

In The Morning

 Everybody climbs in bed with Mommy in the morning.

Weekend of Sun, Wind and Water

 Summer isn't quite over and we are spending every last second outside.  Wind, water and sun are the cure for anything that ails you.  The cute kids don't hurt either.  We spent the weekend at the lakehouse and went boating for the first time all summer.  It is tragic that we haven't been out on the lake more this summer but we take what we can get.