Apple Cider

These photos show my two girls as they enjoy the "fruits" of the season. We've already finished 3 gallons of apple cider this year.. and the fall started just last week!

Here are a couple of photos of the girls as we try a little taste testing exercise. Each was asked to decide which was better; hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick or cold apple cider with a piece of ice. They love their little 'tea' cups (colorful and perfect for tea, hot cocoa, or cider). The cinnamon sticks were also a huge hit. I think both caused the hot apple cider to win out in the end.

Reintroduction Part 1: School

Long time no see!

So here is a recent (actually from this month) photo of the whole family! We had to pose for photos for the girls new rooms.S is now in Rainbow Room; a preschool room. Her school has 3-5 preschool rooms (depending on the number and age of the kids) and divide the kids up mostly by age. She was in Blue Room last year. Blue Room was filled with those kids whose birthdays were borderline as to when they would start Kindergarten. In other words, half of her previous classmates started K 3 weeks ago while the other half moved to Rainbow Room with her.

The downside is that 3 of her 4 closest friends were in the older group. Now S is focusing on developing new relationships with new friends and in a new room. It was a challenging first 2 weeks, but S is very predictable. This was week 3 and suddenly everything went smoothly. Drop-offs are pretty quick, pick-ups are filled with lots of excitement, and she is talking about what she did with classmates again.

A also changed rooms, but her change was much less dramatic. Their school practices "continuity of care" (which basically means the teachers progress along with their pupils from the infant room all the way through toddlers until the kids graduate into the preschool program). A simply moved from Toddler-1 to Yellow Room. Her friends came with her; her teachers came with her; and since Yellow is her favorite color (and the room is bigger with more windows) she likes the room better. She was an easy drop-off since day 1.

Easter Sunday

Easter had a little bit of something for both of us girls.

S loves to dress up and the more 'fancy' things the better. Yesterday, she wore her prettiest flower dress. Then she borrowed both a necklace and two broaches from her mom (like I said, the S is into quantity when it comes to fancy). Even better, we curled S's hair for the first time ever.

All the way to church, S talked about being a princess and how wonderful it was.

A has a different priority. She prefers the tasty treasures. While she also enjoys dressing up, she is much more excited when she is included in the play of others who are excited as well.

With that in mind, it will come as no surprise that A was very happy to play with her sister while hunting for eggs and wearing her new Hello Kitty back pack. Best of all for her, she ate as much candy as she wanted.

Fancy Hair - Crazy Eyes

I love fancy hair. You may not be able to tell, but on this day I wore four pony tail holders, five fancy barrettes, and my headband. The more the merrier.

Here I added my "crazy eyes" look. This isn't just mom catching me by surprise. This is me posing especially for this picture.

Nite Nite

One of my favorite games is "Nite nite." I force mom or dad to lay down on the floor. Then I cover them in blankets, get them a buddy to hold, rub their back, and make reassuring cooing sounds.

Last night both my sister and I were up too late and I played a modified version. Both my sister and I laid down in her bed and pretended to go to sleep.
One final question: Do we look like sisters? The cheeks, the smile, the squint of the eyes... mom thinks we look like sisters.

Birthday Parties

I had a wonderful time turning four years old. My birthday was Feb 28 and on that day I had a big birthday party with a bunch of my friends from school. We held it at little gym (one of my favorite places) and one of my favorite teachers ran the class. We got to do everything I wanted. We jumped on the air track, played with hula hoops, and played Red Rover. I was even able to go into the closet where they store all the good toys and pick out which piece of equipment we could play with next.

After playing, we ate cookie cake. This was my parents idea. I didn't really like the cookie cake but Miss K (my preschool teacher) told my dad that kids don't really like cupcakes. She said we like cookies and frosting but not cupcakes.

So, against my protests, my parents decided to get a huge cookie cake for my birthday. It was a huge hit! All my friends started chanting "cook-ee-cake, cook-ee-cake" as the adults debated the best way to cut and serve the odd thing.

Finally, I opened presents. That was also very exciting, but despite all the excitement, I worked very hard to remember all my thank-yous.

At the end I did a very good job thanking everyone again for coming and we all went home for a nap.

That night, grandma and grandpa took us out with my aunt and cousin for a birthday dinner. I didn't eat much, but I loved the presents I got then too.

On Monday, I brought frozen fruit pops into school. We were going to celebrate at school on the Friday before my birthday, but a big snow storm hit so we waited until Monday. The delay meant I could wear the beautiful blue wings, crown, and magic wand I received as presents.

Finally, we did one more small bowling party with a couple of family friends. That is when I got to eat the shark cake I started asking for back in July with my sister's birthday. My mom was very proud of this cake too.

It is fabulous being 4.

Dishes

I love doing dishes. Every day we come home from school and I wash my hands. After washing my hands I can spend up to 30 min washing and re-washing the same few breakfast dishes while mom and dad work on dinner.

That generally means I also have to change my shirt afterward, but since I love picking out and changing my clothes that is a win-win for me.