Walking Elsie

Here is a video of Elsie trying to walk. She has made several better attempts but I just haven't been able to catch those on video yet. Her preferred mode of movement is still crawling because she is all about speed. Her upper half still moves faster than her feet but she is not afraid to try.

Beautiful Day

Yeah, it was a great day for a walk! Lily, Elsie, and I walked around the neighborhood and enjoyed the sunshine. We even got to hear the birds chirping. This was the first sign that winter is not going to last forever. It is too early to say that spring is on the way but it is getting closer every day. I haven't been great about getting Elsie outside during the winter so I'm really looking forward to these warmer days - seriously I'll take anything about 30 degrees! It is amazing what a little bit of sunshine and fresh air can do for your day! Lily enjoyed getting her scooter out and even tried to ride her tricycle. Poor girl though, I haven't quite seen anyone have such a hard time learning how to pedal...

What a valentines day!!!

I really just have to start this out by laughing out loud. The past seven days have been hectic, maybe even a little crazy, and I'm sleep deprived. The girls have all been nice enough to share their germs with each other... so we are all sick. There have been late nights because of coughing, lots of snuggling and holding because of fevers and aches, and lots of tears because, well Lily put it the best "I just don't feel good." So I think that my valentines tradition is going to be homemade chicken noodle soup. I seem to remember that we were all sick this same time last year so I'm going to embrace it. Maybe I'll even create heart noodles????

Hmmm

I've been away from the computer too long that I'm not sure where to start with a blog...so I'll just start with rambling. The summer is ending rather quickly and we have been trying to fill every last moment with something. The chaos has already begun - Charlie is back at school workshops and football. Katie starts right after labor day. There is that anticipation in the air for something new. The girls are getting restless, and I imagine that I am too. I just want to get into our new routines and figure out how it will all work instead of just anticipating it. I think that this is the first moment of guilt-free silence that I have had since before our Idaho trip in early July. Yikes! Elsie is sleeping. Lily fell asleep on the couch watching Disney's Robin Hood (She insisted that she didn't need a nap today...). Katie is playing with the neighbor girls at their house. Oh sure, there is laundry to do and something to pick up and some room to clean. But I'm just going to sit for a minute (or 10) and enjoy the quiet.

Sleepy Elsie

Elsie was sitting on my lap just talking away.
Then her eyes got heavy...here is a movie of Elsie falling asleep.

Farmer's Market

Katie and I went to the Farmer's Market in Buffalo this morning. I've been wanting to go to the farmers market as part of my bigger goal of feeding my family healthy local food. It was a beautiful morning to be outside. There were only 12-15 vendors but plenty of food. We found fresh maple syrup, homemade lotion (Katie thinks that we can make our own someday), and beaded necklaces. We chose some green beans, new potatoes, and green onions. Katie picked out a beautiful lily to bring home to her sister. As we left, Katie looked up at me and said "Mom, that was fun." I'm not sure what she was expecting but I'm glad that she left with a smile on her face, ready to go again.

Summer swimming camp

We successfully completed swim camp this summer. By success, I'm referring to the fact that we did not have any major melt downs on the way to camp each day and the girls still liked to swim after camp had finished. Actually, I think that both the girls finished camp enjoying the water even more than when they started. I can't ask for more than that. They are already begging to go to the pool to practice what they learned at swimming lessons. This was Katie's 4th year with Foss Swim School, so we were very familiar with the lingo - tiger paddles, Frank and Murray's (crawl stroke), paint the ceiling (backstroke), and pizza arms (beginning of the breast stroke). This was Lily's first swimming lesson and she has been very hesitant in the water, but thanks to her teacher she can now put her goggles in the water for 8 seconds! Lily spent a good part of the time concerned that her swim-mate Alex wasn't listening to the teacher. She has been playing red light, green light with Elsie as she lays on the floor and kicks. Katie was just sailing in the water. It gave me a great perspective to watch Lily and then to watch Katie - I could really appreciate how far that she has come. Charlie and I were both able to make almost all of the lessons together - so it was a whole family effort! Elsie was there cheering the girls on.