Blog Catch up

We've been super busy lately.  Rusty left last week for a contract job and will be gone quite a while - probably a month.  YIKES!  The girls already miss him but we talk to him every day and FaceTime so we are doing okay.  We are looking forward to Spring Break next week, when I am taking a week off work, and we can do some fun things.

Until then, here's what we've been up to -

Some of Alaina's recent Mother's Day Out art -

Caitlin drawing in church -

Dress up with sissy -  

Caitlin got her 3rd quarter report card -  

4 A's, 2 B's.

Saturday, we made homemade pancakes.

I had my longest run so far - 10 miles!!

Alaina is finally letting me fix her hair.  She did pigtails on Sunday.

And a ponytail after her nap. 

She loves looking in the mirror after it's fixed.  She always smiles real big!

iMovie

Just got this app for my phone for editing videos.  LOVE IT!!!

I did this one in about 5 minutes.



Parent/Teacher Conference

What is it about parent/teacher conferences that makes me anxious?  Anyway, I had one with Caitlin's teacher last night.  The note Caitlin brought home about these said that her teacher "requested" one.  I think that made me extra anxious.  Had she done something wrong, was she behind, were we doing enough with her at home?  Worry, worry, worry!

Turns out she's top in her class in reading!  WHAT??  How did that happen?  She's read the most number of books and has the highest reading test scores.  We never see her reading at home on her own so I will admit my first thought was that she was lying about reading all those books.  But after she reads one, she has to take a test on it.  And she's passed all but one.  Her teacher said she reads at recess, walking in the halls, at lunch, any extra time in class, etc.  I guess once she gets home, she has read so much, she just needs a break.  Kinda crazy!  But I LOVE that she loves reading!!

Her math, though, needs some work.  She should be done with her multiplication tables and her teacher was surprised that she hasn't shown more initiative (is that how you spell that) and passed them all.  Once they are done, they get their picture and star up at school and get a medal.  We all know how Caitlin loves to earn rewards.  Why hasn't she told us about this and been working towards it?  Well, now that we know about it, we will reinforce it at home.

The teacher's only complaint was that Caitlin sometimes rushes her work so she can draw on her paper.  We've heard that one before!  She showed me one spelling test that she missed 3 on but that had a very impressive drawing of a volcano and a T-rex.  Rusty works with her EVERY week multiple times on her spelling words and she usually gets 100s on the tests so we know she was just preoccupied with her drawing.  Later, at home, I told her that school is for learning and that she can draw when she gets home.  I told her I would buy her all kinds of art paper and pencils and she can draw for hours at home but school was for learning.  She seemed excited about that.

Overall, Caitlin is doing great in school.  Her teacher adores her and thinks she is doing great!

Comedian

Last night when I got home this little comedian told me her first knock knock joke.  She cracked me up!!  I bribed her to get her to do it again for the camera.  :)

Our Saturday

We had a fun Saturday.  I had my longest run so far - 7 miles.  I have been doing all my training indoors on my treadmill and I am so much slower for some reason.  Saturday was nice outside so I wanted to take advantage of it.  Rusty had to go work on a contract job and the girls didn't want to go to the YMCA.  They talked me into letting Caitlin "babysit".  Alaina wanted to play with her at home.  So we set strict rules - (no going outside, no answering the door, turn the porchlight on if you need me) and I ran laps throughout the neighborhood, constantly lapping back by the house.  Caitlin did great, they were both happy and I was glad to get my run in.  I am so much faster when I run outside!!

Then later, we went to Ethan's first birthday party.  The girls were so excited to go and play.  They loved Alli's trampoline! 

I just love this video.  Caitlin can be so good with kids.  She particular loves Alli.  She has told me she wants to save up her money to buy her a really cool birthday gift.

Preschool Artwork

I just love all the artwork Alaina makes at school.

I just love this rotten little girl!!

Even though she does things like this -

Why does she like to destroy things?

Fake Laugh

I can't tell you how many times I have watched this and I laugh EVERY time.  Alaina likes to fake laugh.  She does it all the time.  Saturday, Rusty and I were out with friends and Sabrina, the babysitter, videotaped Alaina fake laughing.  I just LOVE it!!

I just love how she throws her head back!

Aargh

Last week, Alaina had Pirate day at school.  They learned about the letter X, as in X marks the spot.  They went on a treasure hunt and said "Aargh" and "Ahoy Matey" a lot.  She had loads of fun!!

And I love the Pirate she made!

Friday Nights

Rusty has been playing in a church basketball league the past few weeks.  So we spend our Friday nights cheering him on.  Caitlin especially enjoys the games.  She now claims she loves basketball.

Artwork

I love the crafts Alaina made for me for Valentines!

And I just love all the drawings Caitlin does.  I think she's very creative. 

Valentines Thank Yous!!

Alaina and Caitlin LOVE their Valentines gifts they got in the mail.  Baby Stella is constantly tucked in with her new quilt.  And Caitlin loves her new farm hand puppets!!

Valentines

My Valentines surprise from Rusty.  We don't normally exchange Valentines gifts but he surprised me with these.  YUMMY!!!

Alaina, the Jokester

Alaina recently has begun being a jokester.  She likes to try things to make us laugh.  Afterwards, she'll even ask if she made us laugh or if she was funny.

Here she is playing with an inflatable donut (cycling has bothered an old tailbone injury so I leave it in the car).  She has it around her face and is roaring like a lion.

And here she put the Mega blocks bag on her and walked around.

And here she is at school.  Rusty sent me this picture Tuesday.  He went to pick her up from Mother's Day Out.  She saw him, ran and gave him a hug, and went right back so she could hear the rest of the story.  She just loves Ms Joanna!

Oh yeah!

They won Album of the Year!!!

Solar System project

Caitlin was so excited about her solar system project.  She's researched a lot about each planet and knew exactly how she wanted each planet to look.  I think it turned out great!

Snow Day!

We woke up on Saturday and had SNOW!  What?  Did not know that was supposed to happen.  Rusty was gone to work out and I didn't feel like getting ready to play in it.  Caitlin wanted to play in it so I helped her get ready and she went to find her friends. 

She came back sad because they were gone sledding already.  So then I got Alaina ready to play with her.  But Alaina wanted me to come too.  I gave in.  I got layered up and warm and then I decided, if we are all ready, let's go sledding!  We bought the girls snow suits and a sled TWO Christmases ago and they hadn't been able to use either one.  So I was going to change that! 

We drove down to the middle school with the little hill and took our sled that had still been unused.

Alaina LOVED the snow! She wasn't so sure about sledding but Caitlin showed her how it was done.

Alaina finally did go down and then LOVED it!

And here's momma showing them how it's done!

And what do you do when all the snow is gone when you come home? 

You ride your plasmacar! 

Then we realized we still had snow in the back yard.  Alaina liked learning to make snow angels!

I'm so glad I let the girls talk me into taking them to play.  In no time, the snow was all melted and we had such a fun time together playing!

My New Fav Restaurant!

YUMMY!!!