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Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts

May 25, 2016

The View from Behind

I chose to leave my camera in its cozy nest on Saturday morning when we went for our first family walk of the spring.  I know I missed capturing some amazing moments, but I hope they stay clear in my mind for a long time.

The morning was cool, and the girls were excited to wear their Puma track suits.  I fixed their hair – braided ponytails for both – and they skipped outside, full of energy.  Hubby and I were energetic, too, but we didn’t join the girls when they started to jog.

They took off ahead of us, jogging side by side.  How grown-up they looked in their coordinating gear, ponytails swinging as they bounced down the road.

The jogging didn’t last too long, but it gave way to skipping at one point, the girls holding hands.

What a view.

On Sunday, the girls wanted to go for a bike ride.  I reluctantly agreed.  (The last bike ride wasn’t all the pleasant, with one kiddo tiring out and having to push her bike part-way home.)  I reminded the girls of the “rules”…that they aren’t to get too far ahead of me…to stay together…to stay on the side of the road opposite traffic…to stop if a car is coming.  They committed to the challenge, so off we went.

Baby A took off first, riding to the top of the first hill to wait on Sissy and me.  Once we got closer, she took off again.  I encouraged B to catch up to A, and to wait on me at the stop sign.  The girls were off!  Baby A rode ahead most of the morning, with B following her.  I jogged (most of the time) to keep up with them.  A few times, I yelled to A to wait on us before embarking on the next leg of the journey.

How adorable it was to see the girls, again from behind, peddling hard and following the rules.  At one point I let them go down a dead-end side street (while I rested from the jog!).  They were so incredibly cute, talking with each other as they peddled side by side.

We made the full lap through the neighborhood, a solid 2 miles round-trip.  Baby A had great stamina to make it up the final big hill without stopping – a very recent feat for her!  Baby B was losing steam, but I told her she was responsible for getting home.  I was walking, with B alternately peddling and walking her bike behind me. 

At that point, I looked up to see A running towards me.  She’d ridden her bike home, and she was coming back to help her sissy.  My A disappeared over the hill, and then she and B summited together…Baby A reported she gave Sissy two pushes, and from there she jogged alongside as B made the final stretch home.


What a glorious sight!

December 11, 2013

SUPER STUFF!!!



At LONG last, here is my SUPER STUFF {sorta-kinda} catch-up post.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, the girls asked me if they could have a Daddy-Daughter day.  I told them to ask their daddy…and apparently he’d already told them to ask me.  The girls were THRILLED to see Mommy off to go grocery shopping in Daddy’s car, while they prepared to go out to lunch.  I’m told they had a great lunch AND made a stop by Walmart to pick up some cat food.  (My hat is off to the husband for braving Walmart with the girls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, too!!!)

We went on a great family walk the weekend after Thanksgiving, too.  The girls get SO excited when Daddy comes with us.  Without both my hands occupied, Mommy took along the camera and snapped a few (or a hundred) pictures.

We joked with A that she has a "nest" in that tree...she calls it 'her' tree now!

My reflection in B's glasses.  Love.

Showing off their mittens!

The girls crack me up with a handful of continued mispronunciations.  Baby A calls kiwi, ‘kew-ee’.  She can say it correctly, but seems to choose not to.  But it’s kew-ee to me!” she insisted recently.

Baby B still says interesting as ‘inch-resting’.  She doesn’t seem to be able to say it correctly, despite her stellar pronunciation of virtually every other word in the dictionary.  That makes it so sweet to this mama’s ears…hearing her talking so seriously, so grown-up about something, and proclaiming how “inch-resting” it is to her.

B was talking to A about something Christmas-related.  Sissy [A] Elf,” she called her in the sweetest voice.  Melt.

B cracked me up when she commented – of her own accord – on A’s choice of red-and-white striped reindeer socks with her pink tennis shoes.  A’s shoes look good with those reindeer socks!” she declared.  Hahaha!

The girls were chatting in the back seat of the car one day on the way to school.  When we grow up, there will be two mommies in the kitchen, not just one, like you.  That way we can cook faster, and Daddy will be happy, because he is always hungry.”

Another funny quote, from that same conversation…”Daddy goes to work so we have money on the days when he is off.  I guess we don’t need money on the days he works???

The girls have been practicing dribbling a ball, off and on, for a year or so.  It finally clicked with Baby A last week.  She counted 35 times that she dribbled!  And I know she’s done even more at once…it’s pretty amazing!

Both girls love to come show me how sweaty they get, running around in the basement.  It’s such a badge of honor for them.  HA!

B was sitting by the fireplace a couple of days ago.  She called A over and said, “Kiss me, Sissy!  I guess A came in close enough for B to plant a kiss, and then she said, “You have to kiss me back!!!  HA!

We recently let the girls start using placemats, and they think they are SUCH big kids!!!  So far they’ve done a pretty good job at keeping them clean.  It’s one more step towards a normal table setting…hooray, and sniff-sniff.

I asked Baby A to go upstairs and get two ponytail holders from her bathroom (as they tend to migrate upstairs by the end of the week).  She brought down a handful to last us the week, without me asking her.  I just thought it was so neat to see her thought process.  The next day she picked up both sets of pajamas and put them in the laundry basket, without me asking her.  It doesn’t always happen, but she can be such a responsible baby girl.

On a whim a couple of weeks ago, I started teaching the girls some volleyball moves.  They LOVE it!!!  They will hit balls (or try to hit balls) back and forth for ages.  This mama loves it, too.  I can’t wait until we’re more reliably able to pass to each other…so fun!!!

Last Friday Daddy had an unexpected snow day from school.  Since the weather wasn’t supposed to come until later that day, we went out for a family breakfast.  We hadn’t been in quite a while, so it was a big treat.  The girls cleaned their plates…and then part of mine!

This dates back a few weeks, but I didn’t want to forget, as I laugh every time I think about it.  We had gone down to Nashville for a little shopping and then lunch.  The three of us were in the bathroom stall together (a big one, thank goodness), when “The Thrill is Gone” came over the sound system.  The girls have never heard that song, to my knowledge, but Baby B started strumming her imaginary air guitar and swaying slowly to the rhythm…all while Mommy was going potty.  I could have just fallen over, it struck me as so funny.

Also going back a few weeks, Baby A called me in the middle of the night.  I went up to her room and found her sitting in the middle of the floor, between the beds.  Mommy!  I can’t find my blanket!” she cried.  I chuckled and told her her blanket was on her bed.  I tucked her back in, and she went to sleep.  It wasn’t until a week or so later that it dawned on me, I think she fell out of bed.  Poor kiddo!  She’s one tough cookie, though.

And from the second night (I think) we were in the house…the guy was here from the gas company, working on our fireplace.  Hubby went outside with him to look at the gas grill.  Baby A followed them on the inside of the house, looking through the windows.  Mommy!!!  Why is Daddy going to the edge of darkness???  She was so alarmed, and it cracked me up how she characterized it.  She’s been using “darkness” a lot recently, instead of “dark”.  That just seems so foreboding!  

Lots of SUPER I don't want to forget!!!

September 8, 2013

SUPER Stuff on a Sunday!



So much silly, SUPER stuff at our house this week!

1)      Baby A came running up to me: “Mommy!  ‘Gulp’ has four letters!  The girls are on the verge of sounding out words, and I thought that was pretty awesome!

2)      One sweet little memory I don’t want to forget is how excited the girls get to watch the chickens cooking on the rotisserie when we go to Sam’s.  They’ll stand there and wave, “Hey, chickens!  Hahaha!

3)      At Sam’s, they have most of their prices displayed in really big signs (at least in comparison to regular grocery stores).  Baby A read almost every sign to me…correctly!  Mommy, that costs fifteen dollars and eighty-seven cents!  Mommy, that costs five dollars and twenty-four cents!  She solicited quite a few laughs from people shopping near us.

4)      On Wednesday, we’d planned to meet a friend at the park.  She had to reschedule, but the girls and I went ahead with a hike, a little bit of play time, and then a picnic lunch.  It was so incredibly pleasant, and it just made this mama’s heart smile!  The girls were full of pep on the 1.25-mile hike, even up the hills!  They played nicely for a few minutes on the playground, and didn’t protest or drag their feet when it was time to leave the playground.  We found a nice picnic table for our lunch.  I opened their containers, and they ate every morsel, with no spills and no requests for help.  WOW!

5)      On Friday morning the girls and I went to Panera for a mid-morning snack.  We’d been in the habit of doing that last school year, before doing our weekly grocery shopping, but we haven’t done it much over the last few months.  It was so nice to be back in familiar surroundings with my babies!

6)      We hadn’t been out for breakfast in a while, either, so we hit our favorite country-cooking restaurant on Saturday.  The girls ate French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon, and they didn’t leave a morsel on their plates!

7)      When we got home from breakfast, we decided on a family walk in the neighborhood.  The girls asked to go in their jogging stroller.  :)  Daddy and I took turns pushing them, and it was such a sweet throw-back to when they were smaller.  In fact, it was almost exactly four years ago we got that stroller…it’s served us well!

8)      On Saturday we needed to be at the new house to accept delivery on some appliances.  The house was cleaned a couple of days ago, so for the first time we got to relax a bit.  I took one of the girls’ storybooks, and we made official use of the reading room.  I loved seeing them lounging on the carpet, taking it all in!

My dream WINDOW SEAT is behind the girls!

9)      One morning I told B that she was a funny girl. "Yes," she said, "the funniest I've ever seen." She's humble, too.

10) And I overheard the girls playing…B said to A, "Sissy, do you want to go on a hunt for Christmas trees and dinosaur babies?" I love their imaginations (even if they do have their time periods a bit confused).

So thankful for this SUPER stuff!

February 8, 2013

Left Brain-Right Brain Theory



You know the left brain-right brain theory?  That each of us is more governed by one side of the brain?   

That left-brainers tend to be more proficient in logic, critical thinking, numbers, and reasoning?  That right-brainers tend towards emotion, intuition, and creativity?

And you remember the grade school “test”…cross your arms, and which one is on top?  Fold your hands together, and which thumb is on top of the other?

I don’t know how much validity there is to this theory and these “tests”, but I couldn’t help but be reminded of them in the way that Baby A has begun to grasp my hands.

Once upon a time, I know she grasped my index finger with her tiny hand as I helped her toddle across the floor of the den.

And then, since she’s been walking proficiently, I’ve held her entire hand in mine as we’ve gone up and down the stairs, braved our way across parking lots, and held our course at the mall.

Over the last couple of weeks, though, things have evolved.

She will no longer permit me to hold her entire hand in mine.  No, she has to hold my hand more “traditionally”, as an “equal”, so to speak.  And she will not take the first step until her thumb is on top of mine.

She does this with her right and her left hands, so I don’t mean to suggest that she has a dominant side…but I’m afraid this might be another sign of her dominant personality!  At a mere four years old, she already has to have the upper hand thumb.

Well, upper hand thumb or not, Missy, you’re still holding Mommy’s hand through the parking lot…until you’re at least 25…

November 5, 2012

Super Stuff on a Monday



What made our week super-fabulous?  So much stuff!  I’m bullet-pointing as best I can to get it all in!

1)      We had such a fun Halloween, all the way around.  The girls loved their pumpkin party at school, and they were ecstatic to get a little treat bag from their teachers.  We had a great time with M&C on Wednesday morning, and they really got into the festivities on Wednesday afternoon.  And perhaps best of all, they were content to come inside and snuggle by the fireplace for a few minutes before going to bed (on time!) Wednesday night.  Bliss!

2)      Baby A’s recap of handing out candy: “Mommy, some kids couldn’t talk, so I talked for them.”  If a kid didn’t say “Thank you!” she very innocently volunteered it for them.

3)      My sweet Baby B’s tender heart…she started tearing up when her daddy said (very nonchalantly) that he would get rid of our jack-o-lanterns the day after Halloween.

4)      Baby A’s prowess at using scissors and tape.  She’s occupied herself for up to an hour on several days, cutting out shapes or pictures from magazines, and then taping them onto a blank page.  She’s such a hard worker!

5)      Baby A was such a great helper during nap time one day this week.  She stuck by me through folding two loads of laundry, and then she made countless trips upstairs to put away socks, washcloths, towels, tshirts…anything she could reach.  Daddy was upstairs, and he said she had such a “business” look on her face.  HA!

6)      Finding Baby B napping one afternoon with her pillow on top of her.  She was so cute…and then she was so proud of being a “turtle” after I woke her up!

7)      B organized the alphabet magnets (from two full sets = 52 tiles) in order one morning.  I think I heard her sing the ABC Song 26 times…but she persisted and did an amazing job!

8)      Hearing the girls jump up and down, chanting over and over, Hip-hop dancers!  Hip-hop dancers!  They were giggling hysterically…and so was I!  [I can only surmise they got that from our “ABC’s of NYC” book, where “H” is hip-hop dancer.]

9)      We had our family pictures on Saturday.  The girls did so well…and they even had fun!  I cannot wait to see the smiles on their faces.

10)   Happening upon a marathon during our Sunday morning walk through our neighborhood.  We had such fun stopping to cheer on the runners, and B even got to yell into a megaphone.

11)   We let the girls watch the last couple of minutes of the Alabama game on Sunday morning.  Baby B clapped at all the right times, and she even told Aunt GG on the phone about Alabama’s touchdown!  Mama was so proud!!!

12)   The girls have been golden not to get up until their clock turned green, but they’ve been awake a good 30 minutes “early” since the time change.  This morning B was laughing like mad and talking complete nonsense.  Baby A, who probably wanted to enjoy her “extra” hour, kept insisting, “Sissy, that’s not a word!

13)   The very first thing the girls said when I went into their room this morning: “Muffins!  Muffins!  I smell muffins!  And correct they were!  They were so excited with their home-baked treat.

So thankful for another great week with my sweet baby girls!!!