52/365 - Miss A & our move

As our move gets closer, we've been telling Miss A more often that we will be moving soon and going on a plane to England. I'm not sure how much she really understands, but lately Miss A has been announcing more often that she'll be going on a plane (that is when she isn't "going shopping" - the photo on the left!).

51/365 - Before & After

The Before - Miss M managed to fall asleep in her high chair after lunch - I guess we took too long to eat!

The After - Miss A woke with rosy cheeks after a good nap - which for once did not require me to go into their room 10 times to tell them to stay in bed & go to sleep!

50/365 - Bath Time

At bath time I realized I didn't take any photos today, so I took a few quick ones of the girls:

49/365 - Just Lay Back & Float!

One of the good friends I have made here in Dayton teaches ISR (Infant Swimming Resource). ISR is a program designed to teach young children how to survive in the water - it relies on teaching the children to float on their back, and then if old enough, to roll to their stomach and swim. They repeat this sequence until they are rescued or they reach the edge of the body or water they fell into. Angela has taught both Miss A & Miss M over the past year and we recently reenrolled both girls for refreshers before our move.

Miss A has always been a strong floater - Angela always says she has a textbook float and I think she would probably float all day if we let her! This week however she has surprised us - she has figured out that she needs to move both arms and both legs to really swim through the water. She now loves the water!



Because of Miss M's age when I initially enrolled her in ISR in the fall, Angela just taught M how to float. We decided to see if Miss M will show any signs of a short swim now because she is so strong & determined in other things. Much to our surprise, Miss M is moving her legs and doing everything she can to figure out the swim!

48/365 - Baking & Time with Abuela

Today the girls had lots of fun spending time with Abuela (more affectionately known as WaWa). Miss M spent quite a while looking for birds and was hamming it up during snack after her nap - probably because Miss A was still sleeping so she had our undivided attention for a little while!



Later in the afternoon Miss A & I decided to make brownies together since we know they are one of WaWa's favorites!



This was the first time that Miss A really helped me in the kitchen so I figured she could have the fun of licking the spoon :)

47/365 - Back to Swimming

The girls are back to swim lessons (ISR technically) and so are the telltale signs:
1) Crazy, unruly hair
2) Stamps on both hands (during the summertime it was feet too - and legs, and arms, and every inch of skin Miss A could stamp before I caught her!)
3) and Miss M looking absolutely exhausted!



Miss A also spent some time taking photos like Mummy. Last week she saw me setting up flowers for this series of photos. Today she got her camera out and then had to "put water" on the flowers just as I did.

46/365 - They're Back!

Los & the girls arrived back home late last night and Miss M is back to her old ways:

45/365 - Quiet

Do you know why I love this photo?


It means that I have 2 full day of QUIET. Two full days of sleeping as late as I want, going to the gym whenever I want, putting my feet up & relaxing for as long as I want! Los took the girls with him to see his mom for the weekend and I get a quiet house. For the first time in 3 years I don't have any responsibility for anyone but myself and I'm loving it. Although I miss Los & the girls, I am enjoying every moment of the Me time and therefore the photo from yesterday will just have to do for today's photo! :)

44/365 - Dancing (revisited)

Today my little dancer wasn't Miss A. Instead Miss M was having a blast dancing along to the music!

43/365 - More Flowers

Technically I didn't take these photos today, however I did spend the girls' nap time editing them so I figured I could count them for today.

42/365 - Children's Song

Miss A learned a classic children's song today. Can you guess what it is?



Here's a hint - her English roots are starting to show! :)

I also sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider" for her today. My day is now filled with requests for the "spider song"!

And just one more set of photos from lunchtime today:

41/365 - Standing Tall

Look at Miss M!



Over the past week or so, she has figured out how to stand up on her own without pulling up.
And of course Miss A feels the need to "help" Miss M sit back down every time she manages to get to a standing position!

40/365 - Maybe I was wrong...

The other day I mentioned that Miss A was my "little mother" and that Miss M was the mischievous one. Maybe I was wrong and Miss M has a little of the mothering in her too:





She will not, however, play with her own doll and is on a constant mission to steal Miss A's baby when Miss A isn't looking!

More Photos

I took more photos today. Here's a sample:



To see the rest of the photos check out EKC Photography! Enjoy! :)

39/365 - Valentines

Happy Valentines Day from Little Miss M (who hates wearing hats)!



P.S. I just finished this hat today for Miss M!

38/365 - Learning to Bake

Miss A loves to play n her kitchen and loves to show Miss M how to make cupcakes.



Today though, along with teaching Miss M, Miss A decided to watch me while I decorated a cake.

37/365 - When Snack Time Goes Awry

Snack time started like this today:

*Please note the oh-so-dramatic tear rolling down Miss A's cheek*


You may ask yourself what caused this melt-down - simply that we did not have anymore fruit snacks and apparently apple slices were a VERY inferior second choice!

Miss M was completely unfazed by all of this. As long as she had a snack she was happy - in fact she couldn't eat it fast enough.


As Miss M develops more of her personality, it's funny to see just how different the girls are.

Miss M is our mischievous one. Don't let the eyes fool you. She's trouble with a capital T!


Miss A is our little mother. She wants to take care of everyone and everything. In the photo on the left, she is making cupcakes using puzzle pieces - she has such a large imagination and most days she amazes me with the ideas she comes up with.

36/365 - Go Green (or maybe pink...)

For the past few weeks, I've started knitting a lot more frequently. Up until yesterday I stuck with very basic knit & purl patterns because I thought other things (like cabling) were too complicated! Last night I met up with my good friend Janice & Robyn for coffee, knitting, and just a girls' night out, and Robyn was kind enough to teach us how to cable. This is what me made:



A coffee cozy! This way I don't have to use the cardboard sleeves whenever I get a coffee! Save a few trees in the process while having a much nicer looking coffee cup sleeve.

Thanks again Robyn!!!

35/365 - Friends

Another snow day today, although this one was due mostly to the wind gusts that were blowing snow around. Instead of venturing out, we decided to invite friends in.

34/365 - Home Bound

We had another housebound day today here - six additional inches of snow fell during the day today with another four forecasted for overnight & through tomorrow! Because Los didn't have class today, I had the opportunity to really enjoy the snowstorm by getting out and taking photos. I think this was the first time I've really experienced the true quiet of a snow storm - the quiet that comes before everyone is out shoveling driveways and before children are screaming and throwing snowballs. Before now I was always one of the people either rushing out to get to work or one of the children sleeping in and enjoying the snow day! Snow seems to put a damper on every sound and creates a beautiful canvas against which to photograph bare trees. Now if only the snow wouldn't risk damage to my camera!!!

Here are just a few images from today. More will follow later in the week when I have a chance to edit them all!





One final comment on this last series of photos: After our last snow storm a few weeks ago, some neighbors built a larger than life Snowman, complete with arms made of ducting & a finished with a top hat, placed prominently on the edge of the main road into our housing development. In the Snowman's hand was this American Flag. For the past 2 weeks as the snow has been melting, the flag kept being stuck back into what was left of the snowman, until all that was left was one small block of snow. I wish I had photographed the Snowman, but I'm hopeful those same neighbors might feel inspired to recreate what they did before. After-all, the flag is still flying there!

33/365 - After Nap

Today was not a photo day - between restless children & the beginning of a head cold, picking up my camera was the last thing on my mind, but I made sure to get a few quick snaps of the girls after nap.

32/365 - Must Love Dogs

While enjoying a lazy sunday today, Miss A told me that she wanted to see animals. I decided to put on the tv and see what was on the Animal Channel. This was the result...



Turns out it was the AKC Dog Show today so Miss A was glued to the screen. If you couldn't tell, Miss A loves dogs - as long as the don't try to get near her!

31/365 - SNOW DAY!!!

Because of the slush we got yesterday, we didn't end up quite as much snow as was forecasted but we did get a good amount! Both Miss A & Miss M had a blast playing in the snow, although each had their difficulties with it.

Although the snow totals weren't as much as expected, we did have some good sized drifts and Miss A wasn't really prepared for that...




Miss M just didn't know quite how to move in her snowsuit and so she frequently wound up like a beached whale at the bottom of the slide...



And Miss A discovered that she can eat snow - but then rapidly discovered that it was COLD!!



More photos will come tomorrow - and I will probably be posting some of my more artistic shots over on EKC Photography!

30/365 - How A Sleet Day Is Spent

Today we had a sleet day - although it was supposed to be a snow day, the weather ended up being a lot of sleet & freezing rain - and sleet does not much for much fun outside. We were stuck inside most of the day and the girls barely took a nap so by the end of day it looked like a tornado went through the house! But I think the girls had fun...



Miss A had some fun drawing & Miss M kept moving all afternoon!

Hopefully there will be some SNOW photos tomorrow!! :)

29/365 - Tulips

Potted tulips sure make a house a little more cheery during the winter months!



Thanks Los :)

28/365 - Waking Up is Hard to Do

Miss M had a difficult time waking up from quiet time today...



So Miss A decided that she needed to sing "Silent Night" for her sister to cheer her up...


Much to Miss A's surprise, Miss M still wasn't too impressed...

27/365 - Story Time with Daddy

Los was home for with us for most of the day today so the girls got a special treat - Daddy got to read them stories before quiet time.



The photo on the right was just one more from Miss M's first birthday party!

26/365 - My Climber

Miss M has turned into a little climber. She gets into anything & everything these days... including some spots she then can't get out of!