Mission Accomplished!

After about an hour of letting Madeleine & Katie "ride" their bikes without the pedals...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!

David put the pedals back on their bikes last night. We figured we would still have to push them and then have them coast with their feet on the pedals, but those 2 had a different idea. They got right on and started pedaling all around the cul-de-sac!

Pure joy and elation!

2 girls

2 bikes

0 training wheels

PRICELESS!

I was fortunate enough to capture the look of joy on Madeleine's face the first time she rode across the street.

It's starting already!?

This morning while Madeleine was brushing her hair and getting ready for school she says in a dreamy voice..."I want to find a boyfriend who likes me for me."

WHAT?
What did you say?

She then proceeds to explain to me that she wants to find a boyfriend who likes her for who she is (I'm super glad for that!), so I ask her what's a boyfriend? She tells me it's her friends who are boys, but they only want ONE THING.

WHAT?
What did you say?

I ask her (very calmly I might add) ,"What one thing do boys want? {holding my breath}

Madeleine rolls her eyes at me like I just crawled out from under a rock..."To play chase at recess Mommy! That's all they want to play!"

WHEW! We dodged that bullet for a little longer!

First day of Kindergarten

Yikes! I can't believe my little girl started kindergarten today. When we got there, her teacher greated us at the door and asked her name. I answered Madeleine. The teacher leaned down to Maddie (who wants to be called Madeleine now!) and said
"Mad-e-LINE , you can go find your name tag and color the picture at your seat." My shy child answered ," Yes Maam, but my name is "Mad-e-lyn". I couldn't believe it! Her teacher probably thinks she some snarky kid now.

Aside from the name issue, I'm so proud of her. When we walked her to her classroom, she went right in and found her seat and started coloring. No tears (from either of us!) except from Katie after we walked out of the room. It was so sweet, she started crying that she was going to miss her sister.

When we picked M up, she first said that she had a great day. A little while later she said that she doesn't like her teacher because she's mean. She didn't let M play in the classroom at all. I hated to tell her that she's at school to learn and work, not play all day. We will see how tomorrow morning goes. I may have to push her out of the car!

Gymnastics

Just a short video of the girls last day at gymnastics. Sorry about the noise in the background...I haven't figured out how to edit a movie and add music.

This is the girls' favorite part of class!

Life Lesson #1

Hard work =REWARD

Happy Girls

The girls learned today that hard work earns them rewards. We've been instituting a new chore system/reward system. They have set chores they must complete daily. When they complete a task they earn a smiley face. At the end of the week, if they have completed their "job" they get a reward.

The last few weeks, I've really felt like I've had to nag them to get their jobs done. I was getting frustrated and ready to just do their jobs myself. But my 2 precious girls really surprised me today. While I was on the phone with my aunt (HI Ber-Ber!), they took it upon themselves to go into the laundry room, get the clothes out of the dryer and fold ALL the towels! By themselves...without me nagging! I couldn't believe it. They even put them away without me asking. I guess our new system is making a difference.

I decided to really reward them to make a point of their taking the initiative to do a job without me telling them to. So...we went to Build A Bear. They LOVE build A Bear! I'm ashamed to say that between the two of them we have about 15 different animals from there.

Any way, they each picked out a dog, an outfit and shoes. Katie came home with a Jack Russell Terrier (it looks like our Maggie) and named her Fancy. Maddie chose a Border Collie (like our Harley) and named her Kaylee. Maddie's little dog ended up with a polka-dot bikini and purple flip flops! Katie's little Fancy got a pink floral dress and matching sketchers.

As I sit here typing, they are currently playing with all their build a bears happy as larks.

Life is good!

Monday's Memory

Today, I'm keeping a friends daughter for a while. While I was trying to figure out what to do with them, Maddie found my pet rock Rocky.

Rocky is about 30 years old and was given to me by one of my favorite cousins, Tony. Rocky has traveled with me from Alvin, to my desk at EC Mason, to Lubbock and now back to the Gulf Coast. He now sits guard at our front door. Everytime I look at him, I have such fond memories of my childhood and my cousin.

So, what did the girls do? They painted their own pet rocks!