Thanks for the Memories, August!

August has been a whirlwind!  I CANNOT believe that the girls have been in school THREE WEEKS today.  (I guess that explains where the time has gone!)

So...before the month ends, here is {one} first-day-of-school picture.  The girls posed like this on their own...look at those long legs!!!

Despite the back-to-school busyness, we've packed in a lot of fun, too...

...several trips to the library to keep these girls entertained...

...a mommy-and-me trip to the trampoline park, where these girls gave me a run (er, jump) for my money...whew!

...a family trip to the yogurt shop (during which Daddy agreed to a selfie!)...

...and the kickoff of the soccer season...

I'm supremely thankful, among all this BUSY, that the girls still made time for play at home.  Here they are, having "built a TV", putting on a show for Mommy and Daddy before bedtime.

~ Thanks for the memories, August 2016! ~

School-Day Morning Sweetness

Not all aspects of our school-day mornings are “sweet”. 

Nope. 

There’s the half-paying-attention syndrome that sometime plagues us, prompting Mommy to offer up more “reminders” than ideal.  There are the “you-fixed-her-hair-first-yesterday…it’s-my-turn-to-go-first-today” grumblings.  And there are the “why-didn’t-you-pack-my-backpack” accusations, one sister of the other.

Sigh.

But…

I’ve had some of the sweetest sleepyheads to greet me in the mornings.  Our girls are usually up early, and it’s a supreme treat to get to wake them on occasion.  “Good morning, Mommy,” they’ll mumble.  “I love you.”

Melt.

I get warm belly kisses from still-snuggled girls, one of my favorite things in the world.

And the sweet little voices who often read to me aloud as I’m getting ready.

And to end the morning, I sometimes get an over-the-shoulder look and wave as the girls enter their school.

That morning sweetness doesn’t begin to rival our weekend family time, nor does it touch the lazy mornings we spent together the girls’ first five and a half years of life…but it buoys my day, for sure.

Way Back When-esday: The First Day of School

I've been feeling somewhat overwhelmed as of late at how BIG my BABIES are.  My A is getting pretty close to my shoulder!  And my B, while not as tall, is looking so grown-up with her shorter hair.

After snapping this adorable picture of the girls holding hands walking into school a couple of weeks ago...

Heading off to second grade!

...I knew I had a "match" from a few years ago.  Honestly, though, I couldn't bring myself to dig it up right away.

I finally braved the file of older pictures, and -- sure enough -- I gasped at what BABIES my baby girls were.  It seems like just a couple of years ago that they marched bravely into preschool.  Surely it couldn't have been FOUR YEARS.

Heading off to preschool!

Wowza!  Pigtails and all!

It surely tugs at my heartstrings...but I'm thankful for this little walk down Memory Lane...hand in hand.

And I'm thankful to Cheryl at Twinfatuation for prompting this Way Back When-esday post!

{Now pardon me while I grab a tissue.  I seem to have something in my eye.}

Sister(s) Golden Hair

I was hanging out with the girls at their open house, two days before school started.  It was around the golden hour of photography, and I was snapping pictures as the girls enjoyed a popsicle before we headed home.

B finished her treat first, and I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of her braids as she watched some kids across the way...

...and then of A as she enjoyed a few more licks...

How I love those precious golden-haired sisters.

My heart!!!

When They Need Each Other...

I think of our girls as so independent.

Sure, they're usually together.  And they often dress in coordinating clothes ('cause it's easier for me!)...and they'll occasionally want to match.

But developmentally?  Psychologically?  They seem to be very confident in themselves.  They're two little people, orbiting in close proximity, but usually very much doing their own things.

I guess that's why it feels extra sweet to nab the occasional picture of my girls, clearly comforted by being together.

I took this at their open house, two days before school started.  Hubby couldn't come with us (as he was at his own open house across town).  While I waited in line to get our car tags for the pickup line, I told the girls to wait in the line to get their tickets for the popsicle stand.  I could see them at all times...in their school gym...but they were still apprehensive to wait in a line themselves and ask for something of an adult, without me being right there.

I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures as they inched closer to the front of the line, clearly a bit nervous at the prospect ahead of them.

My sweet girls!!!  I am so incredibly grateful for them...and for the fact that they have each other!!!

The Perfect Vacation Day

I took the day off on Tuesday to spend the day with the girls…the day before school starts…which is now our cool little tradition.  We’d all been looking forward to it for weeks.  And the day didn’t disappoint.

The girls had breakfast in traditional day-before-school fashion, with a candle in their cinnamon roll to make a wish for a great school year.

Make a wish!

We spent the morning playing at home.  We read together, we worked on a canvas, and we had plenty of pretend time.  

Here, the girls made a “beach”.  All was well until Mommy pretended to be a shark!

We headed downtown for lunch, to a new seafood restaurant none of us had tried.  It was so cool to enjoy something new, together, for the first time!

After lunch the girls slipped into their swimsuits (and Mommy, into shorts and a top) and we headed to the dancing fountains.  What fun we all had, running around and squealing!

Here, pretending to be flamingos!

After we had our fill of the hot sun, we dried off as best we could and headed for ice cream.

Sharing a bite!

What a wonderful afternoon it was!!!

We came home and scrubbed up and down in preparation for the start of school.

The rest of the day somehow disappeared into reading and snuggles, with a little needlepoint slipped in before supper.

We didn’t take a trip…we didn’t live it up at the spa…but it was the most perfect vacation day I could imagine…logging some wonderful one-on-one time with my baby girls and celebrating the eve of yet another milestone.

Girls' Night Out!

We finally got the girls’ school supply list last week, and I’d been looking forward all week to our “date” on Thursday night to go shopping.  Hubby had open house at his school, so he dropped the girls off to me at precisely 4:30.  (Summer hours…woo hoo!)

The girls were all skippy across the parking lot, and I would have been, too, if I didn’t have on heels!

We decided to get our shopping done first.  We headed to Target and got everything we needed in just a few minutes.  Their list this year wasn’t very long, and everything on it was understandable.  The girls chose the colors of binders and notebooks they needed, and we were set.

From Target, we headed to our once-favorite Mexican restaurant, one we hadn’t visited as a family in several months now.  We enjoyed a yummy meal and some snuggle time.

After supper, I surprised the girls with a trip to the library.  You’d have thought they won the lottery!  We missed the library last week, and they’d been clamoring to go.

They picked out their books pretty quickly, and we had a lovely chat with the librarian.  She asked the girls about books they’d read.  I thought it was pretty impressive how many books / book series they said “yes” to!

When we got to the car, I told them how proud I was that they love to read, and how they should be proud of the many books they’ve read.  “It just comes natural!” Baby A responded.

I had one more surprise up my sleeve that evening…ice cream!  The girls really would have loved a cone, but the two places close by with cones have outside seating that I feared would still be wet after a late-afternoon rain.  We headed to the yogurt shop instead.  The girls chose their yogurt flavors and we sat on the indoor/outdoor side.  We had that entire part of the shop to ourselves, and we were all grooving to the music they were playing. 

“What kind of music is this, Mommy?” B asked.  I told her I would classify it as hip-hop.  “Well it has a very lively beat!” she said.  Hahaha!  And when my A finished her yogurt, she couldn’t resist dancing a bit.  That’s uncharacteristic, to see her so uninhibited in public, but I guess she felt comfortable since we had the place to herself.  She was busting a move, for sure!

(From a June trip to the yogurt shop...the same sweet smiles!)

We packed a lot into three hours (pushing out bedtime to accommodate), but we had so much simple fun, just the three of us.  

L.O.V.E.  

Sweet, Seven-Year Old Anticipation

I was witness yesterday to some sweet, precious, seven-year old anticipation.

Yesterday morning the girls got up and came downstairs.  I hadn’t asked them for “belly sugar” in a while, so I decided to give my luck a go.  We play a little game where they tell me what kind of kiss I can give them…ranging from little to big, and from super sweet to silly.  A “little-sweet” kiss is just a peck.  And a “big-silly” is a huge raspberry.

No matter the type of kiss they allow, I always make a big deal of preparing myself.  And seeing the light in their eyes…not knowing how much something will tickle…is golden.  I ALWAYS make good on my commitment to honor their allowance for little/big, sweet/silly, but they can hardly stand the anticipation. 

My kisses are met with a range of hugs to squeals, and it’s one more piece of “baby” I can hold onto for now amid all the “grown-up”.

And then, yesterday at lunch, Hubby met me with the girls at the hair salon.  I got a trim, as did Baby A.  When it was B’s turn, I asked if she wanted to get more than a trim, to cut her hair just below her shoulders.  She’s been growing out her bangs since last summer, and we’re almost there!

B answered with gusto right away, “Sure!”  I showed her how long her hair would be, confirming we’d still be able to do a ponytail.  She was game!  She sat in my lap, facing me.  I got to see her face, full of anticipation, no doubt proud of what she’d agreed to.

And at least as sweet was watching Baby A’s face taking it all in.  She was rapt with anticipation, too, her eyes just dancing as she watched Sissy’s hair fall to the floor.  “Do you like it, [A]?” I asked her.  “YES!  It looks AWESOME!!!”

Sweet anticipation…and sweet sissies…I couldn’t ask for anything sweeter.

Way Back When-esday: Presidential Prowess

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking way back to eight years ago.  I was pregnant.   And it was the height of the primary season ahead of the 2008 presidential election.

Not knowing the genders of the babies just yet, I assumed – for the sake of conversation – that we had one boy and one girl.  And I gave them the in-utero names Barack and Hillary.

I remember my colleagues and I had some fun with that one. 

Hee hee!

Fast-forward eight years to today, ahead of the 2016 presidential election.  We’re still having lots of political dialogue…but this time the girls are more verbal participants.  Here are a couple of my more recent faves…

“Mommy, why don't you run for president?”…and then, “Well, you’re the president of our house.”

And when I mentioned that Daddy couldn’t be president [because he’s not a natural-born citizen], Baby B piped up before I could elaborate, “Because he’s Independent!”  Hahaha!

I’m hoping my girls will always have a passion for politics and world events.  Heaven knows we started ‘em early!

My red, white, and blue babies!

***

Shout-out to the always awesome Cheryl at Twinfatuation for inspiring this Way Back-Whenesday post!