Happy birthday!

Hannah and Lizzie are 10. As in 10 YEARS old. While it's true that sometimes they act like teenagers, it's hard to wrap my brain around 10. Because sometimes they act like 2 year olds.
There have been a lot of changes in the past 10 years, of course, as we've put some challenges to rest and discover new ones. Through it all though, Hannah and Liz are still -- and will forever be -- my babies. It feels like yesterday that I was changing diapers and chasing them down in the library, the store, church or wherever else they chose to make a break for it. It seems like yesterday that I was singing someone to sleep or intervening in a temper tantrum in the middle of a department store (okay, that may actually HAVE been yesterday...)
But somehow they've learned to walk and talk and read and (on occasion) do math. They've learned compassion and sass. They talk about the issues of their lives (I can't find my shoes. I need more time on the computer. Do you think Liam from One Direction has a girlfriend?) and the issues of their souls (Do you think God lives in a castle? Why do little children get sick and die? Are there hamsters in heaven?)
They struggle, they succeed, they falter, they overcome. They hate each other until anyone else hates them and then they are a solid unit. They fight hard, but get lonely when the other one is at a playdate.
They make me sigh in frustration and take my breath away with their insight.
And now they are 10. As in 10 YEARS old. Wow.

Here are a couple of photos from their birthday. We started celebrating when we were in London in October and will continue to celebrate through this weekend, when the Kevins visit.
This first picture is the annual, Can Dad Still Hold Both of Us challenge. As you can see, he has succeeded again -- 10 years in a row. The girls each weigh over 60 lbs now, but I have confidence that he'll be able to do it well into the future, although it might look a bit awkward when they are 16 or 17... (oh, and they are dressed for dance because they birthday fell on a rehearsal night for Nutcracker!)

 

 We gave the girls their ear piercing as a birthday gift, but they got each other a gift, too. Not surprisingly they each chose a Monster High doll for the other. Hannah and Liz have different personalities, but very similar taste:

 And here they are blowing out the candles on their cake. There are six candles, which means nothing except that I was so proud of myself that I made the cake from scratch that I totally forgot to buy candles and had to scrounge around in the drawers until I found something I could light on fire.

Dancing as fast as they can

Once a quarter, the girls dance class opens its doors so that the parents can see what the kids are learning. Here, Hannah and Lizzie are practicing skipping in time with the other kids in their class. They're not very good at it yet. But it was fun to watch them try.

I got a little artsy at dance class because it's actually very easy to get bored watching then bend and stretch and then do it all over again. One of the exercises that the girls have to do is to put their toe on this line and the move their heel up to it, so that their foot is parallel to or completely on the line. 

 This may be Hannah's last year of dance. Every week before dance she doesn't want to go, but then every week after dance she thinks it's great. However, she certainly LOOKS like a dancer, doesn't she?

 Lizzie, on the other hand has decided that she loves dance and wants to continue until she gets toe shoes. She doesn't need them mind you, since she dances on her toes in her regular shoes, but she wants to be official. The dance studio is starting girls pretty early on pointe so she might get her wish next year. Anyway, here she is working on her hand position:

At the end of the weekend I'll probably have some more pictures of them dancing since it's NUTCRACKER! Whoo Hoo! This year they are both angels, polis and cavalry. Tonight was dress rehearsal and then there are two shows tomorrow and one on Saturday and then again on Sunday. Then I take a nice loooooong nap.

Flash Mob Christmas

Most of the flash mob videos out there don't make sense to me because I don't know the music or get the dancing -- but this one I LOVE. I found it on line last year (probably facebook) and have no idea why I never put it on my blog because it's really cool.
First, you WILL know this music.
Second, there is NO dancing.
Third, the people are really singing the song.
Fourth, it may even make you cry a little ... it's that beautiful.
Fifth, it's about Christmas which is fewer than four weeks away (deep breaths!)

So, before I head off to bring the girls to Nutcracker rehearsal (performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- more deep breaths) I am leaving you with my favorite flash mob video. Enjoy!

It's beginning to look a lot like ... winter

Oh snow, how I have missed you (NOT!) Last winter we had very little snow. In fact, we had ZERO snow days which meant the girls got out of school the very beginning of June. I have a love-hate relationship with snow. I love the way it looks outside, but I don't like the way it get tracks all over the INSIDE of my house. I like the way it looks outside, but I don't like that it has to be COLD to snow. And I love the way it looks outside, but I don't like to drive in it with other people who appear to have never driven in snow.
We've already used our allotment of snow days this year (they only budget for two) thanks to the hurricane, but I was still surprised when the girls had school this morning. Because they had early dismissal a week or so ago when it was just supposed to snow, but didn't, and this is what my yard looked like this morning. Actual snow:

I was NOT surprised, however, when their bus failed to show up at the end of our driveway. It's not a lot of snow -- and it's still not, even though it's been snowing lightly since 7 a.m. -- but it's enough to mess up the traffic on the curvy, hilly roads around here. So we waited about 35 minutes for the bus and then I got bored enough (and cold enough) to drive everyone to school.
So I loaded the girls, a neighbor child and Cash (who was outside playing in the snow with us while we waited for the bus) and drove everyone to school. It's one road all the way down, but I still managed to test my anti-lock brakes a few times and make a nasty comment at some guy who was doing about 50 on a road that is supposed to be traveled on at 35 on a dry day ... but we made it without serious incident.
Everyone got to school late and then school closed two hours early (because why not send them back on the bus again in the snow!) so now everyone is here and fighting. Yay. :(
But my backyard looks pretty, doesn't it?

All Ears

The day that Hannah had been waiting for HER WHOLE LIFE came about two weeks ago. She finally got her ears pierced. Lizzie had to wait HER WHOLE LIFE PLUS ONE WEEK because she made some very bad choices (the modern day euphemism for she was b.a.d.!!!) and lost the privilege of holes in her ears for one week.
Anyway, my original plan was to pretend we were taking our usual Sunday drive and then end up at Sweet and Sassy for the big reveal that today was the day. And that's sort of how it went, except for that Lizzie was kicking the seat, her sister and her mother just because she thought that the Sunday drive was SO BORING.
When I told Hannah that we were at Sweet and Sassy to get her ears pierced she started to cry she was so excited. Lizzie may have shed a tear or two but not for the same reason.
 While Rob took Lizzie on a little walk around the mall, I took Hannah in. She was so excited and selected her earrings (a pair of crystal stars) right away. Then two piercers came and marked her ears and viola! two more holes in her head.
Here she is bracing for the inevitable pain (she said it pinched for just a second):

And here she is with her new look:

The  next week we did it all over again and this time Lizzie was very well behaved in the car. In fact, she had been very well behaved all week, so I actually took three days off her punishment and let her have her ears pierced in a week instead of waiting until her actual birthday. She selected a pair of crystal flower earrings that have clear crystal petals and a blue crystal center.
Here she is getting pierced (she said it hurt a little):

And here she is with her new earrings:

In this picture you can also see that they sprayed glitter in her hair, and she also got a cupcake body spray and a lollipop and they gave her a certificate with her picture on it and another she could put on the wall (Hannah got the same treatment.) All in all it was worth the $35 it cost to have it done.

Taking care of the ears has been rather interesting. Hannah, who SWORE to me that she was old enough to take care of her own ears has cleaned them ZERO times (I do it morning and night for both of them) and one of Lizzie's earrings fell out during the night at Grandma Connie's house so I had to sort of repierce her ear in the bathroom in the middle of the night. Fun times.
This of course harkened back to when I got my own ears pierced at a mall on Cape Cod during my freshman year in college.
I got my ears pierced at 18 years of age and then let one of them close up about two years later because I kept losing earrings and wore just one most of the time and it was just my very cool personal fashion statement. Eventually I let the other one close up too, though, because when you reach a certain age people just think you forgot to wear an earring, not that you are making a totally cool personal fashion statement.

Way Back and Blog News

Hey everyone, I'm Baaaaaack!
I had no idea that I hadn't blogged in a month -- well except for my (two) loyal readers who mentioned it to me. :)
Anyway, I'm back and we'll jump right in with a Way Back Weekly.

This picture was taken in front of our house in Elk Grove Village, Illinois in 1965 (according to the date stamp) and since we are wearing jackets it's probably August. (ha, ha!) I'm actually thinking it's the early spring because I look much closer to six, than seven years old (as evidenced by my missing teeth). The house in Elk Grove was big enough for us, but the yard was (to my recollection) pretty tiny, so we are probably standing near the sidewalk in this photo. Oh and notice the lovely landscaping under the windows. That one larger bush had red berries on it that I ate one year. And I shouldn't have. Blech.
And gosh aren't we CUTE? That's me on the left, Terry in the middle and Aunt Anonymous on the right. I have to say though that every time I see a picture of Terry around this age it looks just like her son, Casey.
So here's my "news" if you've read this far. I'm going to try to post something (a way back, photos, interesting tidbits, the simple woman's daybook) EVERY DAY between now and Christmas. I KNOW. It's exciting, isn't it? :)
Seriously, I've got all this stuff (photos) backed up and didn't get around to posting, so now I'm going to do it for days and days in a row. So, I guess this means I'll see you tomorrow.