Christmas Time is Here!

We started the season with a trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express.  As the train pulled out of the station, the conductor punched words in their tickets!  The girls were in total disbelief throughout the trip. It was such a magical time.  

The girls just are so excited to see Santa!  He does look rather tired, doesn't he? Or done in with all the kids that sat on his lap...

I love how Santa is looking so cautiously at Rosie; I think he's onto her game...

Lia and Rosie often hold hands.   They are very close and have such a good time with each other.

It's been like having twins.

 If they were asked, these 2 would love to volunteer and help Santa on Christmas Eve night...they've lately been so helpful around the house!  

Uncle Tim bought the girls their dresses.  We are going to spend Christmas Eve at his house with my family. The drive is only an hour away but it's going to be the longest hour of traveling for them!  He always celebrates in grand style.   They are so looking forward to it.  It will be a very exciting evening!  

Merry Christmas!

                   

Little Pumpkins

So much has gone on in the past couple of  months. Keith and I decided that we wanted to move  since we wanted to be closer to our jobs and church.  So throughout the summer, we decluttered and updated the house.  Our house looked so amazing that after a week of having it listed, we got offers!  We found a few houses that we were watching, but suddenly sold.

At the same time, school started, and Lia and Rosie went to a new neighborhood school (last year Lia was in Kindergarten at my school, but we were paying tuition there); a quaint country school with wonderful teachers.  Lia is now in first grade and Rosie is in Kindergarten.  They love riding on the bus together and their classrooms are diagonally across from each other.  The school is so small that they see each other at lunch and recess. How awesome is that?  Keith shifted his hours so that the girls are not in a before or afterschool program.  It's been so nice to have them grounded with just us.
For all these reasons and even other reasons that came up, we decided that it wasn't the right time to move.   We are keeping an open mind about still moving in the future, but yet we are ok with staying.  We are content and have peace about it all.

I love how Rosie started to assimulate my crazy organizing, decorating and decluttering.  I can't take credit for all of the work I did this summer.  I used the KonMari Method from the book"the life-changing magic of tidying up" by marie kondo.  It sure has been a life changing book for me as well as Rosie!

This is a neighborhood farm that I've always treasured.  How cute is this Pumpkin House for our little pumpkins?!

...and a local Fall Festival nearby, which included a hayride of course.  Rosie as a scarecrow just cracks me up!  A bird just sitting on her arm????  I've never seen her so still!!!!!!

These are some of the things that I just love in our neighborhood.  

Happy Fall everyone! 

This is also the month of Lia turning 6.  Needless to say, the toothfairy has been coming to our house a lot lately.  And our pumpkin is as happy as can be...

Summertime!

Here's a few memorable photos of the girls enjoying summer.

Enjoying our homemade mango pops...

 Our staycation includes a private beach...

 Accomplishments are sometimes really huge...

Lia and Rosie at the mall..Lia almost knocked down a Sunglass Hut!  

(The last time we saw these cutie motorized animals was in Shanghai, 2 years ago, before adopting Rosie.  Keith and Lia took a ride on a simular one).

Endings and New Beginnings; a continuation

Today Rosie graduated from Pre-K.  Rosie has been looking forward to Graduation for a few weeks now, and has been telling us that a lightening bug is also called a firefly.  Well, we found out why she kept telling us; this was part of her graduation ceremony.   They all told us some "Did you know..." information about bugs.  It was very informative!!!!  

This frame was a gift to us.  You can almost envision her as a high school graduate.  

(BTW, when Lia saw the frame later on, she was totally mesmerized by the jewels and the photo of Rosie.  "Wow, jewels!", and then she put it in her backpack!  Rosie took it all in stride).  

The Pre-K'ers also sang songs for us, got a diploma and then we were off to eat cake.

Rosie got herself situated awfully quickly for the cake and was more than content to eat it by herself, with her balloon by her side...

but then Daddy joined her.  

Tomorrow (June 23) is Lia's last day of school.  It's so bittersweet to know that Lia will be in First Grade.  Here's Lia at the end of the year Class Picnic.  She was so proud of contributing her dad's famous cake pops!  

Lia's favorite teacher in all the world, enjoying a cake pop!

June 23; Lia's bus driver was so wonderful to Lia, all year long.

                                               

July 13; Here's Rosie's new beginnings of starting a Summer  Bridge Program.  She is just ooozing self confidence!  She was so excited to get on the bus today (July 13th).  I love her hand on her hip.  She cracks us all up!!!  She might be little, but she is fierce!  Lia and I were then racing off to VBS at our church.

August 6; Today was Rosie's last day of Summer Bridge.  She is looking like she is ready to take on the world!  Same pose, 4 weeks later.  

She has so enjoyed the program.  Every day, we would wait with such excitement to get picked up by the bus.  Rosie is going to miss her teachers and friends, and her bus driver, April (she first thought that her name was Nancy; every bus driver was Nancy, according to Rosie)...

She was so disappointed to not go home on the bus today but thrilled to have me visit for a last day celebration.

Although I'm going to really, really miss the excitement of waiting at the bus stop (and seeing how they dress, what they bring with them, and how they interact), 

I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer; more time to enjoy vacations, homemade ice pops, playgrounds, swimming in the pool, and close friends...

There's a time to post, and a time not to post...

It's been so busy here! Lia and Rosie have been growing up so fast, and we are truly trying to enjoy every second of it.

Mother's Day was super special.  I was invited to Rosie's school for a Mother's Day tea. Two weeks before the tea, it started..."You are coming to my tea!" she said with a lot of pride and enthusiasm.   She has the most energetic little hop that alternates with one foot in front and one in back, and lingers for about 2 minutes.  It's become a classic Rosie move.

The photo says it all.  Rosie and I have bonded.  Not to say that Rosie hasn't bonded with Keith...they are super close!  She often runs into his arms with her crazy energy! And, ay-yi-yi, Lia and Rosie are inseperable.  They both sometimes cry in the morning, just thinking of being seperated...

We went to the Vanderbilt Mansion for a Mother's Day picnic with our good friend Carol.  Carol was cracking up about all the photos I took.  But it was such a dream like day to me.  I'm not really a photo person, really.  (Come on guys, when we have a birthday party, I don't even pick my iPhone up for one photo, and then wish I did later.  I have to steal a photo to post).  

Snacking out with Carol is always a lot of fun!!!! (No, those are not shot glasses!)

Lia is always up to a game of hide and seek with me!

This photo just shows you a day in the life of the girls. The thought of Rosie usually lightens everyones heart.  If things are quiet in your life, just swing on over to see her in action.  She's not quiet, and loves to move, even if it means pulling Lia!  

Lia has one more month of Kindergarten at my school.  She has gotten so attached to her friends and teacher, and has a favorite series of books that she is trying to desperately read.  At home, she sometimes finds a corner in a room, loads it with pillows and a doll, and then sits quietly, practicing her reading.  Yesterday, Rosie was curious, and Lia decided that it would be quite alright to read her book to Rosie.  I watched around the corner for a long moment, and then quietly ran to get my iPhone.  I missed taking the photo completely.  Rosie was onto something else, and so was Lia!

Sometimes it's best to just enjoy the moment, and smile.  

The Tooth Fairy

After the Christmas vacation, on Lia's first day back to school, she lost her first tooth. She came into my classroom to let me know.  After school, she said that she had the most awesome day!  (What kid says that on their first day back from vacation?!)  The toothfairy left a sparkly dollar bill under her pillow.   Lia has it in her collection of very important things.

Then yesterday, on the 100th day of school, Lia lost her 2nd tooth!  I happened to be going into the hallway, and on my prep time.  Lia came running up to me, so excited.  So I followed Lia and her wonderful Kindergarten teacher, Sarah, right into the nurses office, with my iPhone of course.

Check out the tooth chart behind Sarah and Lia, and Lia's 100th day crown.  We were cracking up that  Lia made it on the tooth chart again!!

Here's Lia, excited to go asleep!  We found a pretty drawstring bag to put the baby tooth in, 

but she quickly realized that she wanted to keep the bag.

So she wrote a letter to the tooth fairy, asking if she could leave it.  I love all the hearts and the purple writing.  Lia woke up early today to let me know that the bag had a dollar bill in it and a pretty little heart.

And here is our local tooth fairy, quite exhausted.  We just saw her a few days ago at the Adam's Lawn and Garden Show (but of course she would be exhausted, she's collecting kids' teeth all night long).  As the tooth fairy slept, Lia was mesmerized. 

Rosie now is telling us her tooth is loose...

Happy Birthday Rosie!

Today was Rosie's birthday.  This morning, she let me know that now that she turned 5, she would be going to Kindergarten, and would be going to my school.  She just is so anxious to be going to Kindergarten and be with Lia and I.

When we asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday dinner, she said she wanted to eat out at the "animal restaurant" (none other than the infamous Bugaboo Creek, you know, the restaurant where you have to kiss the moose). We went there last year, and she remembered!

The girls wore their matching Frozen dresses, with Happy Birthday hats and necklaces (from my cousin Linda's birthday party).  When it came time for the cake, two cakes came out, and the staff lit 2 candles! It was hysterical! We had no idea that was going to happen.  Since Rosie adores Lia, she got the biggest kick out of it.  She certainly didn't mind sharing the spotlight with her best buddy Lia.

 

Keith with Rosie on her big day!

Rosie got a birthday phone call from her Auntie Barbara.  Rosie was hysterical...I wonder what Barb was saying!!!!  Rosie asked her to "do it again!".

The birthday cake was delicious and Lia got one just like it! We thought the waiter was just being kind to Lia, until we got the bill...

 What a memorable Birthday! (Don't tell anybody, but I've always secretly wanted twins).  I just love my girls!!!!!! Keith too.  He is such a proud papa here.

When we came home, Rosie finished opening her birthday presents.  The hit of the night were the Hello Kitty walkie talkies.  They were running into closets and remote parts of the house, saying "I love you".   Somehow, they did settle down and they fell asleep quickly! What a happy day "with a room without a roof..."!!!!!!

Happy New Year!

Here are the girls gearing up for the celebration...Keith suggested that they make New Year's hats, and the teacher in me had them write "Happy New Year!".  Of course I helped measure their heads and we worked together with the stapler.  Keith and I were so fortunate to get customized matching hats from them to wear for the new year also!  The girls especially loved the noise makers that Keith had bought.  Although we had sparkling cider with dinner (of course Keith made his traditional Norwegian "Bunkebif"), we did keep our regular routines for going to bed! Lia was especially excited to using her handmade Christmas gift to us; a new calendar that was made in Kindergarten.  She could hardly wait to use it and cross off New Year's Day.