2015

My 2014 goal of keeping the blog up to date did not work so well.  So I am doing one last post and then printing out the blog before it disappears.  Life is busy with two second graders and 2 dogs.  transition to 2nd grade has been tough.  New school, new teachers, common core which is a very poor teaching method.  The girls love soccer and basketball.  They tried tennis this spring and did well.  Both are good swimmers.  They are also taking gymnastics.  Sasha has fun, but Leeza is getting very good.  Overall, life is good.  I really loved writing this blog.  Maybe I will continue, but I never seem to find any time so it is good bye for now.

Stuck in the House

We broke out the crazy loom yesterday and after a slow start, Leeza has really picked it up.  Here is all of her bracelets linked together.  She is so proud of it.  Her outfit is a last minute choice to run out and get something to eat.  Finally after so many days, we are all healthy and the driveway is cleared of snow.  School is back on tomorrow and I am finally getting back to school.

2014

I've gotten really bad about blogging and keeping this up to date.  Always planning on getting caught up, but never getting there.  So here is our start to 2014 and trying to do a little better this year. 

We got back from Arizona on New Year's Eve/  It was a long day, but not too bad.  Got home right around 5pm.  No celebrating as we were all tired.  On New Year's Day, we started taking down the tree and undecorating the house.  We did pretty good.  Sasha helped a lot and Leeza helped when she felt like it.  That night I got the flu/  It was bad.  I barely got out of bed for 30 hours.  I got so tired just walking to the refrigerator to get the girls something for lunch, that I called a friend Chris Burrill to bring them dinner.  She came and went and I never moved from the bed.  Finally on the 2nd I started to feel a little better.  Then Leeza got the same thing.  She was vomiting for about 24 hours and then she got better.  Monday they cancelled school due to cold (-15 and -40 wind chill) and snow.  The guy who was suppose to plow the drive never came and the street snow plow managed to take out my mailbox.  The only mail I recovered was the girls school pictures.  Amazing that the folder was just sitting there on the top of the snow drift and was not damaged since we had 30--40 mph winds most of the night.  School is cancelled again tomorrow(the 7th).  I still have not returned to work.  Yeah 2014. What a great start!

Yellow Cards and Red Checkers

discipline is kind of confusing.  Sasha gets a yellow card, then orange then red if she does something wrong.  They start on green each day.  Leeza gets a yellow card if she does something Good.  She gets  a red checker if she does something wrong.  then 2 red then a black checker if they do not change their behavior. 

So far Leeza has gotten 2 yellow cards and one red checker.  The poor kid was trying to tell me when she got her first yellow card and I was repeatedly asking her what she did wrong and she kept saying she had her desk clean and was sitting quietly and I kept asking how can you get in trouble for that.  Took about 10 minutes for it to sink into my tired mommy brain that a yellow card for Leeza is good!  She gets to pick out a free book at the end of the week.

She got a red checker for taking too long in the bathroom.  Wish I could give her a red checker every morning for that.  She can stand looking in the mirror for 20-30 minutes at a time.  She said the door to the toilet would not stay closed and when she sat down it would open. I asked why she didn't go to another stall-she said she already had her pants down and couldn't.  Oh the logic of 6 year olds.

Sasha has gotten in trouble twice for hitting boys.  First was Coen who gave her a lot of trouble at Kids Castle and she was really defending herself so I gave her a pass on this one.,  The next day she said they played all day together and were good friends.  That lasted about 2 days and they are not friends anymore.  The second case was Ricky who was on the swing and Sasha wanted it so she stood in front of him and he kept on swinging and kicked her in the stomach so she hit him.  Not so cool with this one.  The hitting started at Kids Castle this summer when she was with older kids and they didn't watch them that close.  She somehow managed to get back to green by the end of the day however.  She can be very good when she wants to be. 

Quote of the Week

It is the first week of school.  After the first day, I was asking the girls what did they learn today?  Leeza goes, "Mommy Mommy"  then she tilts her head to the right and goes "I learned that girls go like this(tilts head) when they kiss and boys go like this(tilts head in other direction) when they kiss."

Modern first grade education at its finest!

More baseball

 Warm up before class starts.

 FIelding and throwing practice.

 Sasha had to come off the field for a water break so we took a photo.  Dig that outfit.

 Leeza's turn to bat.

 And she gets a base hit(everyone does), but the batters helmet is still too big.

 Sasha getting some pointers before she hits.

 And she is off to first base or at least somewhere relatively close to first base.

 Leeza rounded third and headed for home.

 Not looking good for Sasha as it looks like the ball is already at home plate

And she is out.  Not that I think she even understands being out yet.

Tooth #4

Leeza lost her fourth tooth tonight( with a little help form Momma).  She doesn't like to pull them out, but the tooth was just wobbling so much.  Her permanent tooth had already came in and was sticking out of her gum under her tongue.  She still needs to lose one more on the bottom, just to have enough room for the teeth that are already in.  Supposedly her jaw is growing to accomodate all these teeth.  I just figure it means braces are in her future.

Easter Egg hunt at the Zoo

 Today is the Easter Egg hunt at the zoo.  We get all dressed up in our Easter dresses to go.

 We met Hailey Hahn and her mom Melissa in the parking lot and the girls were off and running.

 Leeza loves to pose for pictures.  Both girls like their dresses since they twirl.

 We started off with breakfast in  the acitivty center.

 Chris Burrill and her granddaughter Cora met us there also.

 They brought some animals out and the girls got to pet an alligator.

 Then it was off to get pictures with the Easter bunny.  At first Sasha did not want to go to see the bunny, but right when we were getting ready to go, she changed her mind.

 This baby goat is only 5 days old.  Sasha does not like the petting zoo goats.  they can be aggressive.

 Then it was off to the easter egg races around the carousel this year.

 Cora, Leeza, Hailey and Shaun(from Leeza's school) were lined up to go.  Seems like Leeza knows most of the kids we meet anymore.

 They were in 2 races and Sasha won the second.  Leeza was very worried about dropping her egg and went very slowly.

 After the races, they did the chicken dance and the twist.

 The zoo is under construction for the penguins and we just had 12 inches of snow so many areas were super muddy.  the girls got a few eggs each, but not many.  They didn't care though.

 We turned in our eggs(they are all empty) and got our treat bags and one last photo with the Easter bunny.

 Then it was off to the train ride. 

 Since Melissa and Chris were going, mom skipped the ride.  The girls had a good time.

 Then it was the carousel next.

 Leeza decided to go around without holding on.  She is a BIG girl now.

 As we headed to the parking lot, we had to do the pony ride.

 The girls like riding the ponies.  Around and around and around the circle.

After we went and renewed out season passes, the girls did one more pony ride.  This time Sasha's horse was in the lead. 

Missing Grandpa

I will always remember this day. The girls"helped" Grandpa put up their new slide. He was so patient with them which was so not like him. We miss you Grandpa.

Spring Break 2013

 





 Beautiful spring weather here in central Illinois.  12 inches of snow yesterday.

 The girls loved playing on the piles of snow where the driveway was plowed

 Playing King of the Hill.  The sled didn't work too good- the snow was too deep to pull it.

 If you look close at their legs, you can see they are wearing their blanket sleepers.

 I found them in the back yard holding hands and walking together.  Sometimes they are just so adorable.

 The back door was snowed in and I could not open it.

The girls decided that they would dig it out. In their matching Hello Kitty hats, they are just so cute.  Plus they did a good job getting the door unburied.

Snow and Baseball

 It was supposed to snow last night, so the girls wanted to go sledding.  Not quite enough to sled, but that never stopped them.

 Leeza pulled Sasha all over the yard

 Gotta have blue sparkly boots to complete the outfit.

 WHen it was Leeza's turn to ride, Sasha pulled her about 2 ft and that was it.

 Then it was off to baseball.  The real snow had started about an hour before we left.  If I knew how bad the roads were, I would never have gone.

 They finally played an inning.  Sasha played left field.  She was about excited as any kid playing left field.  She did get to catch the ball and then she stood there with it until the coach told her to throw it.  It really didn't matter since the batter had run out to the outfield anyway.  By the time they got him back to first base, about 5 kids had dropped the ball. 

 Leeza got a base hit.  She ran to first, but was mostly concerned that her batters helmet did not fall off.  Helmets were the one thing that I did not buy them.  Now she wants her own!!

The drive home was a nightmare.  It had snowed the whole time we were in baseball and there was probably 6 inches on the roads and no plows out. Cars were stuck in the middle of town on Rt 51 where they had stopped at a stop sign and could not get going again.  You could hardly see going home and there were cars all over the place.  It just seems funny a blizzard and spring training baseball practice on the same day.