Breakfast with Santa

Saturday we went to breakfast with Santa. Kate and Rachel were so excited they could hardly stand waiting all week. Rachel has been very concerned whether this is the real Santa or not. We had a nice breakfast (that the girls hardly touched) then got to visit with Santa. Rachel is making Christmas easy this year. She wants everything! Kate on the other hand can't decide what she really wants. She decided to tell Santa she wanted Buzz Lightyear toys. It was so much fun. Just seeing the girls light up with joy was wonderful for us. They were so happy; they hugged and held hands the whole morning. It was really a lot of fun.

Making Gingerbread Houses

This year I was smart and bought a gingerbread house kit. It was so much easier to put together and so far the roof hasn't collapsed. We're already ahead of last year! Kate and Rachel love to put on the candy and taste it from time to time just to make sure it is still good! We're getting ready for Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We had a great Halloween yesterday! We enjoyed dinner with our friends and went trick or treating! Kate was Buzz as promised and Rachel was Ariel. Glen had an old vampire costume and Rachel was convinced it was a prince costume. Glen put it on and was Prince Eric with Rach. It was really cute. Surprisingly the girls didn't' stay out nearly as long as I thought they would. Bummer! Less candy for me to raid!

Be sure to notice Rachel's hair in the pictures. She wanted red hair like Ariel so we bought the red hair paint. It looked more like emergency orange, but she was thrilled!

Kate's Big Morning

This morning was very exciting for us! Kate was nominated as the Superintendent Student of the Month for her school. This morning we were invited to attend a special breakfast with the superintendent, her principal and her teacher. Kate adores her teacher and principal and felt so special to sit with them this morning. The superintendent gave each child an award and then their teacher explained why they were chosen. Kate's teacher, Mrs. Lobo, said a lot of wonderful things. One of the things I liked to hear was that she finds Kate trustworthy. Mrs. Lobo told everyone her definition of being trustworthy in the classroom is that Kate always does what she is supposed to do, even with Mrs. Lobo isn't looking. October is the first month of the school year a student of the month is chosen and there are more than 300 kids at Kate's school. We are very proud of her.

Because of the breakfast we were late getting to school. The school secretary walked us to Kate's classroom. When Kate walked in, all the kids cheered and clapped for her. I loved seeing her so happy and honored. Kate loves the limelight and ate it up.

The kindergartners were allowed to dress up for Halloween today. Kate is going to be Buzz Lightyear tonight, but we didn't think the wings and gloves would work well at school. So for school she is going as Jasmine. I will of course take lots of pictures of the babes dressed up tonight and post more pictures tomorrow!

Exciting News!

In case you haven't heard, we are having a baby! Today was very exciting because we had our 20 week ultrasound. Much to our surprise, we are having a BOY! You read that right, a boy. Glen said it was impossible, but the impossible is coming true. There was no doubt in the technicians mind and we've got the photos to prove it. However, in good taste, we decided not to post that picture. Now the name debate has started. We really liked the girl name we had chosen (and all the girl clothes I'd already bought), but we have never agreed on a boys name. Any suggestions would be appreciated (real ones though Mom). Rachel insists his name has to be Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid and Kate prefers Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty. Either way, Rachel can't wait to buy boy dress up clothes. Now she will have a "real boy" to dance with instead of Kate.

During the ultrasound the baby kept putting his hand up to his face. Kate said it was very polite of her brother to wave to her. We all thought it was funny. He is very active so far, which is a good thing. Kate thinks he'll be a runner like her. Probably will. Love you all!

Kate's Vocabulary

More than a month has passed and Kate still loves Kindergarten. Kindergarten is way more intense here than I remember. She has homework every night but Friday and has weekly vocabulary words to practice. I was surprised by the vocab words. She'll have a much larger vocabulary than me before she finishes kindergarten! This weeks words are gorgeous, vain, drenched, linger and peculiar. She already knows gorgeous because we tell them they are beautiful all the time. Last night at dinner Kate proudly told me that she knows all five vocab words this week. Then she posed, as she loves to do, and told me that she is vain. I laughed because Kate does not have a self esteem problem at all (which I am glad about). Kate said vain means to be happy and proud of yourself. She is right!

This morning I helped on a class trip to a local park that has animals. It was nice to meet all the kids that she talks about all the time. The park was just beautiful. The leaves here are just beginning to change and are just breathtaking. I am amazed if you drive north just a half hour the leaves are already in full color. It was the perfect crisp morning for a walk in the woods!

Rachel's Birthday

It really happened. Rachel turned 4 on the 15th. She keeps telling me she was "waiting and waiting" for her birthday to come. It was a wonderful and exciting day. Not only was it her birthday, it was her first day of preschool. When the teacher opened the door, Rach ran right in, not even giving me a good bye kiss. I had to chase her down to say good bye. So far she loves preschool. She will be going three mornings a week. Wednesday in preschool they made treats to celebrate her birthday. That cemented her love for school.

Grammy and Papa came over for dinner and to help celebrate her birthday. It was a very princess birthday, which she loved. GG (my grandmother) sent Rachel dollar bills (she calls it green money) for her birthday. She was elated to have her own green money. The picture of her with the money is one of my favorites. She is begging me to take her shopping for more princess toys. Just what she needs, more princess dolls.

Mommy Bear aka Aunt Candice sent her a skirt from Gymboree. Rachel is such a shop-a-holic that when she saw the Gymbo box she said "I love Gymboree." Hmmm, maybe mommy likes to shop at Gymbo a little to much. Nawww! She gave me a good laugh.

Dancing Princesses!

We have survived Kate's first two weeks of kindergarten. She absolutely loves it! She is very disappointed that there is no school on Saturdays! I am wondering how long it will be before that changes! Rachel, however, still cries every morning at the bus stop. When Kate is home, she and Rachel spend every second together. Thursday night I was on the phone and they started dancing like Aurora on Sleeping Beauty. Rachel always wants Kate to be her prince, something Kate doesn't always like. I got out the camera and started to tape the cute dance. Notice Rachel's frustration when Kate can't sing like a boy. Just ignore me on the phone. I found it quite hilarious.

Kate turns 5!

The last two days have been big in the life of Katherine Curly! Yesterday Kate turned 5! She has been so excited for her birthday to come, she was on cloud 9 all day. For her birthday she wanted to play in the ball pit at Ikea with her cousins. Then last night we had her party. Together we made a purple dinosaur cake, her favorite.

Kate was born at 1:52pm so all morning I teased her that she hadn't been born yet. I was really frustrating her. Kate kept showing me her arm and telling me that of course she had been "borneded" because she was right there. I tried to explain that she was born in the afternoon and in her frustration she said "Mom, you flabbergasted me!" She is to smart for her own good!

This morning Kate started kindergarten, exciting for Kate, traumatic for me and Rachel. Kate, however, couldn't wait. I peaked in her room at 6:30am and she was already getting dressed to go. Even though we miss her, Kate is more than ready to go. We met her teacher this week at orientation, Ms. Lobo. Ms Lobo seems very nice and energetic, perfect for Kate. Kate has told the teacher and helpers that she prefers to be called Katherine Curly, but she will be ok with Kate. She is so funny.

Running Race

Kate wants to be a runner so badly. We were thrilled to find out that a local city's running club has races for kids in the summer. Kate has been counting down to her big race. She wanted a ribbon more than anything. Rachel was going back and forth on racing herself. Rachel is such a girly girl and running is not her thing. The day of the race Rach was insistent she was not going to race but I decided to take her never used tennis shoes just in case. When we got to the track I asked Rachel again if she wanted to race. She said "Mom, I told you I don't want to and I don't change my mind." Five minutes later she changed her mind. Rachel ran with the 3 year olds and Kate competed with the 4 year olds. They both did great. Both of their races were 100 yards. You'll notice that Rach is wearing a skirt because princesses wear skirts, not shorts. She also wouldn't let me put her hair up because princesses wear their hair down. Very funny girl.

At the end they had a quarter mile race for all kids 6 and under. When the race started Kate got knocked down by a kid behind her. She got a very late start. It was great watching her get in her groove and pass kids everywhere. She was the second girl to finish. Rachel got a little tired at the end but made it with the help of Grammy holding her hand to the finish. I am so proud of my little babes! They did great. Tonight is supposed to be the next race but we are getting a huge storm. My guess is the race is cancelled. We'll have to wait till next week!

My First Blog

I've decided to join the digital era and start a family blog. It is probably about time. I thought this would be a good way to keep everyone up to date on our family.

So far we are very much enjoying our summer! Kate keeps asking me when summer vacation starts which I find very amusing. For her everyday is summer vacation! She just knows she starts kindergarten once summer vacation is over and she can't wait. Rachel was just accepted into preschool. She couldn't be more excited. She is going to a preschool program at our high school three mornings a week. Preschool will be very good for her.

Saturday we had a very fun day. Grammy and I took the girls to Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury. My sister works there and was able to get us her discount, getting unlimited rides for the girls. Our first ride was the Tilt-A-Whirl, a personal favorite. Kate and I loved it, Rach, not so much. Rachel was leery for a little while when I told her a ride was fun. We did the giant slide, water boats, cars, etc. The favorite of the girls was the roller coaster (I'm glad to know they are my children after all). They rode the roller coaster at least a dozen times. After getting off the ride and running back in line a few times, the teenager operating the ride just let them stay on. They varied between the first row and the last row on the ride. I of course was the proud parent taking tons of pictures as they went by. They were quite disappointed when we had to go home. Maybe we'll venture to Quassy again.