27. Let the girls call the shots (within reason) for one whole day.

Goal # 27. Let the girls call the shots (within reason) for one whole day.

One of the last full days of summer vacation became "Kids in Charge Day." Which didn't exactly give the girls the right to do everything that costs money, but more to let them call most of the shots and not hear Mom say "No". Now, for clarification, which I had to point out to them too, it didn't give them clearance to argue, be mean to each other or generally misbehave.

So, here's how the day went down:

They spent the morning watching cartoon episodes on Netflix streaming in their pajamas. 

Then we snacked a bit before going to the movie theater. We watched "The Odd Life of Timothy Green"

Came home to eat some ice cream sundaes before I prepared dinner. 

After dinner I soaked and massaged their feet and gave them little pedicures. 

I think they probably watched more Netflix at that point.

It was fun, pretty easy and not too out of control. I think it just might become a summer tradition because Mom liked it as much as the kiddos did. :)

Summer Vacation

Well, summer vacation is in full swing around here which is why there hasn't been a plethora of blog posts lately. In typical fashion, our summer is very quickly filling up and I can already see stuff on the calender to late July! No worries, most of it is good stuff, it's just a little unnerving to see it all planned out. The weather hasn't exactly been "summerish" so the girls have spent a fair amount of time doing this:

Watching Netflix streaming. Look at how cute they are!

I don't want the summer to turn into a gigantic "screen time" so I've initiated a "1 Hour Limit" of all computer/tv/tablet time. I'd rather we be going to the park or playing games if the weather is crummy. So, if the kids are limited to their screen time, I should try to be too. It would be pretty hypocritical of me to say it's for them and not me! I guess that means my blog posts might be more rare than they already were.

I'm sure you're okay with that, because I sure am. I'd much rather be playing with these two cuties than staring at a computer screen!

What a difference a year makes.

Today was the last day of 2nd and 4th grades for my girls.

Lindsay was very excited, but Kera was feeling kind of bittersweet about the whole thing. Lindsay didn't really enjoy school this year, but Kera loved it.

It's kind of amazing to me how truly different my children are from each other. Another thing that amazes me is how much they have both changed and grown during the past school year.

First day of school, Sept 2011

Last day of school, June 2012

They have both very obviously grown a ton in height. Look at how much closer Lindsay's head is to the door window now than last year! And then of course, their hair is way longer. I think it's kinda funny that Kera is wearing the same sweatshirt on both days. But in addition to the growth you can see, I think they have broth grown in other ways too. 

First day of 4th grade 2011

Lindsay had a full year, not only did she make a huge jump academically (not just her, it's typical of 4th grade here) but she has learned a lot about how to deal with social situations that she hadn't encountered before. Thinks like how gossip spreads like wildfire, how to resolve friend conflicts, how to deal with difficulties with authorities, developing respect for others and the importance of honesty. She also learned some fun things like the benefit to saving your allowance (She bought herself an android tablet fairly recently), how to play the recorder and how to ride a bike w/ shifting gears. It's been a very full year for her and I'm sure she's ready for a relaxing summer.

First day of 2nd grade 2011

 Kera had a pretty full year as well. This was the year she really fell in love with reading. Trips to the library last summer were almost torturous for her because she wanted to read chapter books, but everything seemed too hard or not interesting. I have a feeling this summer will be different because she's reading chapter books like a champ and has discovered what kind of books she likes. Her spelling has improved by leaps and bounds thanks to extra work she did each week with another 2nd grade teacher. And she's adding and subtracting 3-digit numbers! Besides academics, Kera also learned this year about asserting herself and a little more how to deal with friend troubles. And of course I can't forget that this was the year she learned how to play the piano! She loved nearly every minute of school this year, and her teacher said some awfully nice things about her as well the other day. I teared up a little today when saying goodbye to her. 

Kera and her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Holden

I can't believe another school year is over and that now I have kids in 3rd and 5th grade! They are growing up entirely too quickly. I'm definitely going to enjoy my summer of hanging out with my little girls while they are still little.

My little pianist

Kera has been taking piano lessons since the fall. She's practiced almost exclusively on her cheap-o little keyboard, with some random time on my folks' baby grand and of course her weekly piano lessons on a real piano. I've told her that if she wants to continue playing piano and really likes it, we'll think and talk about investing in a real piano. She had a few moments this year when she wanted to quit, but that was only because she wanted a free afternoon to play. Otherwise, she practices without complaint and loves going to her lessons.

Last night was her recital. She's been practicing for weeks and was not nervous at all about playing in front of us. It probably helps that the recital was going to be just her and the other little girl taking lessons from Miss Jan playing for their family in the other girl's home. Pretty low key and casual. Erik's folks drove down from Big Arm to be able to be there, which was cool. Especially because I completely forgot my camera and the only reason I have pictures is because my mother-in-law took them! 

Miss Jan introducing the girls and talking a little bit about teaching them

Kera was first, she played her favorite song, "Quiet River" and did a great job.

Kera's second song was a duet with Miss Jan. I believe that song was called "Love Somebody".

I have no clue what Kera's third and final song was called, but she did a great job playing that one too.

If you look closely you will see that she was concentrating, which is evidenced by her tongue sticking out just a wee bit.

The little girls glad to be done posing for a picture with their wonderful teacher, Miss Jan.

After they were done performing, we milled around and had some coffee, tea and cookies. Kera and Juju kept migrating back to the piano where they would play random little bits of music. Pretty cute, I must say. I wouldn't be surprised to see a duet of the little girls next year.

Lindsay and her friend Dani, who is Juju's older sister.

Girls' Track & Field Day

Okay, so these are blurry because my cell phone camera doesn't do so hot when being used to capture action shots, but I still wanted to share two images of my girls that I had today. It was their "Track & Field" day at school, which basically means they spent half the day doing different track and field type events. They ran a mile, did a 100 m dash, relay, long jump, clothes line, obstacle course, noodle toss and frisbee throwing. The younger kids also did hurdles, so that would be Kera and the older kids did High Jump and Softball throw. I watched Kera do her mile, dash, long jump and clothes line. Here's her on her first lap of the mile:

I got to see Lindsay do some of her mile and then because I was volunteering at the high jump, I got to see her do that. I was a bit slow on the draw and only got her after she jumped over the bungee that was acting as the high jump thing (I don't even know the technical term for that).

Neither girl wanted to run the mile and I don't think either even really enjoyed the day. I guess I am not raising girls who enjoy running! That's totally fine by me. I think they probably enjoyed getting out of the classroom today though and the fact that Track and Field Day means the end of the school year is right around the corner!

And I just have to add, helping out with the high jump was so fun. The best part was definitely getting to see the faces of the kids as they ran up to the jump. Some of them concentrated so hard on the "bar" it was intense that it was hilarious. I enjoyed helping out for sure.

Health

Today I am grateful for my kids' health. Kera woke up before six and came into my room to tell me she felt like puking. I sent her back to bed w/ a garbage can just in case. At 7a.m. she said she didn't feel good enough to go to school, and because she loves school and would much rather go than stay home, I believed her. I kept her home. She snacked a little on some fruit and gf cereal throughout the day, but never really ate a meal. She spent most of the day watching streaming cartoons on Netflix or playing a computer game. She'll probably be fine tomorrow to go back to school. Although she had a "sick day" today, it makes me grateful that overall, my kids have excellent health, especially when I think about all the children and families who deal with things much worse than a belly-ache on a daily basis.

Lindsay joined in on the Netflix watching when she got home from school. :)

Duct Tape and Mobility

Yesterday I was grateful for duct tape, especially the fancy designed kind of late. Kera and Lindsay's bike helmets had seen better days--still totally functional just stained and sticky (of all things!) on the outside. Daddy had a great idea to cover them with some fancy duct tape. Kera LOVES her new helmet and I think they look like really cool skateboard helmets now. 

Today I am grateful for my foam roller and lacrosse ball because after a killer workout like today's, nothing feels better than a whole bunch of mobility work.

Today's workout was burpees, squats and push ups in a tier of 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2. If you do the math that's a total of 50 burpees, 50 squats and 50 push ups. I very nearly died.

Ten

Ten years ago today, this beautiful little girl came into our lives...

She was inquisitive and alert from the very beginning, and we fell in love with her at first sight.

I find it really hard to believe that this little bundle has grown

 into this weird girl....  

She's still as inquisitive and alert as ever, and beautiful too. And we love her even more today than we did on that day ten years ago when she was born. Lindsay has grown into a fun, unique, smart, loving and adventurous girl. I am so grateful that God put her in our family and made her just the way she is. I can't imagine our family without her.

Happy Birthday Lindsay Lou, I love you so much!

Field Trip to Moon-Randolph Homestead

I had the opportunity to accompany Lindsay's class on a field trip today. Despite her expression in the picture below, I think she actually liked having me there.

She was dealing w/ some tiredness and allergy stuff and was basically kinda whiney, thus the pout. Anyway, back to the field trip. We went to a cool place called the Moon-Randolph Homestead. It's basically a little piece of history right outside of "town".  It was originally a homestead and working farm/ranch of the Moon and Randolph families, but now it's owned by the city and offers visiting hours and private tours. There are all sorts of original buildings, including the original homestead cabin, and all sorts of equipment, etc. 

It was pretty cool walking around the homestead and learning how life was for the original homesteaders.

I loved all the worn, old wood that the buildings are made of and the weathered metal tools.

There were critters everywhere including bugs (like these yucky red ants), birds, chickens and foxes. We didn't see the foxes but were shown (from a distance) where one of their dens was...up on a rise overlooking the chicken coop!

The kids were pretty interested in most all of it. It probably helped that they had a "scavenger hunt" worksheet they had to find answers to from their teacher.

Back when all parts of the homestead were functioning, there were chickens, cows, an apple orchard, a coal mine, lots of various veggies and a milk shed where they turned milk into butter, cream, etc. I guess they would drive this small cart thing around Missoula and sell these items to families in the neighborhoods. 

It was a beautiful day for walking around and exploring.

Seeing the homestead reminded me of all those "Little House on the Prairie" books I read as a child and how I use to think the life of a pioneer sounded so cool. 

Parts of it still sound cool to me (I'd love to have chickens!) but I'm also extremely grateful to live in this day and age of electricity, running water, etc!

There were all sorts of "treasure" there, it was pretty cool.

And for spending the majority of the day with a bunch of fourth graders, that part went pretty well too. I just love being able to volunteer like that.

Fun at the Ranch

We are on spring break this week, which is why you haven't heard much from me. I've been too busy having fun, quality time with my hubby, kids and in-laws. The girls and I have been here since Monday, and Erik has joined us when work has allowed him. Here is Big Arm, which is a tiny town on the western side of Flathead Lake, north of Missoula. The weather has been typical for Montana spring. We've had sun, snow, rain and a little wind. 

Yesterday we spent some time at a ranch run by some friends of my inlaws. They have a cow that had twins, but she was too young to be able to care for both, so they are bottle feeding one. Scarlet, the little red calf, was our main reason for the trek out to the ranch, but turns out there was much more that we enjoyed.

The girls petting little Scarlet

The girls w/ Jane (Scarlet's owner), Scarlet and Sophia (the dog)

Sage (another dog), Scarlet and the girls. 

The dogs were another enjoyable part for the girls. They were so friendly and loving of attention. Here's Kera and Sage.

Following Scarlet around her corral

There were horses, too. This one was Puzzle. She was pretty curious, sniffing and looking at the girls. It was pretty cute.

We also got to hang out and feed some chickens, but I forgot to take pictures of that. It was a fun day spent at the ranch, which sort of renewed that desire in me to get out of town and get some land of our own. 

Someday!!