Prima ballerina

Last week was Parents' Day at Caroline's dance class. Luckily, Kevin worked nights last week, so he was able to come with me. We were so enchanted by our oldest girl's dancing. We were proud, proud parents that afternoon! We took some video, but now need to figure out how to get it off the video camera. Hopefully, I can figure that out soon!

There was a lot of singing, which was nice. This is "I'm a Little Teapot."

Their last tap dance routine was to "Mama Mia" and was adorable!


And this is Caroline's favorite part every week: the Choo-Choo Train.

Indian summer

Y'all, I've got so much to post and I'm so far behind in posting it!


We really, really enjoyed every moment of the warm weather two weeks ago. It was wonderful.


I let Caroline do some art projects out on the deck.


Helen is always up to something.


We took a trip to the zoo. It was perfect - warm weather, no crowds. Awesome.

We've been busy! More to come...

Playing Mommy

Caroline's best friend at school is Sydney. She tells me every day that her favorite part of school was playing with Sydney. They play "Mommy" many days. Kevin probed her a bit tonight at the dinner table to find out exactly what playing Mommy means.

Daddy: So, Caroline, how do you and Sydney play Mommy?

Caroline: Well...usually Sydney is the Mommy.

Daddy: And are you a Mommy, too?

Caroline: No, I'm the Honey!

It was all I could do not to die with laughter at the dinner table!

Cuties

Here's just a cute picture of the girls before ballet class last week...

Preschool songs

Caroline's been learning several songs at school. It's so fun when she comes home and just breaks out in a new, cute little ditty. For Halloween, they did a little song about 5 Pumpkins.


And this one is about 5 frogs. You'll probably get the gist of this one after one verse!

Halloween 2009

We had a very fun Halloween! Doing little things like making sucker ghosts and having a spooky meal make Caroline so excited. That's so much fun for us as parents.

Caroline (with a little prompting) decided a long time ago that she would be Emily Elizabeth from "Clifford, The Big Red Dog." I ordered a little Clifford for Caroline to take to her preschool Halloween party. Dogs don't go to school, according to Caroline. And then Kevin and I decided it would be fun if we could dress Tigger as Clifford by painting him red. As you can see, it worked really well! Tigger is such a good sport. Caroline - I mean Emily Elizabeth - and Clifford were a neighborhood sensation! Everywhere we went, people wanted to take their picture! They laughed and thought it was the best idea for a costume. And of course, they wanted to know how we made our dog red. Kevin and I really didn't expect the costume to create such a stir. We couldn't stop laughing!

It was really sweet to get out the cute duck costume for Helen. She stayed toasty warm in her suit and was very content riding in the stroller, taking in all the activity.

This is one Halloween we'll be talking about for years!

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Get your own

St. Louis trip

We visited St. Louis this month and had a blast. Because Kevin took a little extra time off, we were able to make it a small vacation. We loved staying with Emily and getting to spend time with her. We took Caroline to the top of the Arch ("March," as Caroline says) and to the Children's Museum. We also met up with our good friends, the Halfords and the Wilsons. We all went to a "Life is Good" festival. And then we celebrated Elizabeth's 4th birthday a couple of weeks early. The girls decorated pumpkins with stickers and watched "Cinderella" together. Caroline was the only one without a baby doll to snuggle up with during the movie, so her pumpkin made a great substitute. It was a wonderful and busy weekend!

Here are a few pictures. To see the whole set of photos, visit my Picasa album.

Swimming lessons

In addition to dance class, I enrolled Caroline in swimming lessons. Her first lesson was last week. I hung around just to see what went on. She did great! I was so proud of her! Her instructor told me that she follows directions very well. I can't wait to see how far she progresses by the end of her lessons!

7 months

Please stop growing so quickly, Sweet Pea!

Ballerina

Caroline started dance class this fall. It's a combination of ballet and tap. She has been so excited for them to start. Thankfully, the class didn't disappoint! She had so much fun! She hasn't stopped talking about class and showing me all her new dance "tricks". She says she loves tap the best. I didn't get to see any of the class. I can't wait for the first parent day!

My favorite part of the first day happened when we got home. Kevin came in right behind us and Caroline went right up to him and said, "Daddy. I have a secret for you. I love to dance!"

Destin 2009

We had so much fun at the beach with the Wilsons last year that we decided to make a repeat trip. I didn't think it was possible, but we had even more fun this year! We are really hoping this becomes an annual event. It was a great time of year to visit - we had the beach to ourselves. It made a perfect end to the summer. We unfortunately won't have the luxury of late September beach trips when the girls start school.

Caroline and her friend Elizabeth were so excited to be reunited. We were all really happy to see each other again! We miss our friends!

I'm adding a few of our pictures here. We took a bunch, so if you'd like to see more visit our photo album.

6 months

Helen is 6 months old! We can hardly believe half of year has passed already. I don't know how we lucked out and got 2 really good babies. Helen keeps us entertained with silly faces and noises. Her favorite "game" is putting her forehead to my forehead and staring into my eyes. We both giggle over that one. Helen loves Eskimo kisses and getting her tummy tickled. Caroline is her favorite person. Caroline can always get her to smile. She is busy and hates to sit still. She gets around quite well on the floor by scooting along on her tummy and rolling. And she's making big progress toward crawling.

13 pounds, 6 ounces; 25 inches long

First day of preschool

We've enrolled Caroline in Redeemer Episcopal Preschool, which is right around the corner from our house. She had a great first day. She loves school - just like her mommy and daddy!




Helen and I walk Caroline to and from school most days.

She is so excited to learn!

Sunflowers

Remember this dress? I made sure it was plenty roomy so Caroline could wear it at least one more fall season. This year Helen had to have a dress to match! I decided to make Helen's a coordinating dress instead of an exact match and that's my favorite thing about them. I love how they both turned out.

Diaper change

Caroline loves to help with Helen. Last night she wanted to change Helen's diaper all by herself. She does really well diapering a babydoll, but quickly found out the real thing is a lot more wiggly! I was so tickled (as you can tell from the video). Caroline got a little intense and frustrated toward the end of the video, so I stepped in and gave her a little help.

Diaper change from Emilee Garrett on Vimeo.

New 'dos

Caroline and I got haircuts recently. Caroline will be starting school soon and I thought a little hair update would be an appropriate way to start the new year.

Silly and sweet

Things around here are a little silly...


...and a lot sweet!