Friday, April 13, 2012
Confident Cougar
Ailey is a Columbia Cougar. I really like her school - they have a lot of good things going on. One of them is their Confident Cougar assemblies. Parents and kids can choose something they are confident in and either perform or submit pictures or videos of it. We submitted some pictures for the slide show today. I wasn't able to go to the assembly, so I was glad when she came home with not only a certificate for participating, but a copy of her "page" in the show. So cute!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Heaven or Texas
My sister, who lives in Texas and doesn't necessarily appreciate it there *cough*, would probably beg to differ on this. But my girls apparently, in some innocuous way, equate Texas with Heaven. Their only excuse for insulting those with less-than-love for Texas by comparing Texas with Heaven is: when you're 4 years old, distance is a very ambiguous concept.
To start at the beginning.... We were sitting at the dinner table tonight with two girls with very little appetite, trying to engage them in something other than eating so that we could all stay at the table together peacefully for more than 3 minutes. We started with "What did you do in Sunday School this morning?"
Marin had a story about digging for coins. (I was attending to bring more food to the table so didn't quite get the gist of where that fit into what lesson.)
Ailey then asked to tell about Sunday School with the 1st graders. They had discussed measuring. Measuring what? God's Love. (I'm thinking: Ooooh, good one.) I asked her how they measured it and her response was that no one could determine how God's Love was measured. (Ooooh, even more interesting.)
Apparently someone suggested that God's Love went even farther than Heaven. That was a LONG way. Even farther than "To The Moon And Back" ... TWICE! Marin and Silje really got into the discussion at this point - they were very impressed that God's Love went even farther than Mom and Dad's Love. So impressed, in fact, that Marin was sure that God's Love must go farther than Heaven ... all the way to Texas!
Back to the difficult concept of distance at this age, when the girls ask to go see Aunt Sarah, Uncle Winnie, Luke and Sam, we invariably answer that Texas is too far to go for a quick visit. Really far. SO FAR that it takes a whole day to get there. So given that they don't ask to go anywhere that is farther than Texas, Texas must be about the end of the world in their heads. The end of the Universe, the farthest from everything. (Sarah might agree with that particular description.) And thus, if Texas is as far as they can imagine, then saying that God's Love measures as far Texas is probably a pretty accurate description.
If each of us were to measure God's Love by the farthest we could possibly imagine or conceive of, I'd guess our measurments would all be a little different depending on our concept of distance. So if Texas is the farthest place Marin can imagine, then I'll let her go with that analogy. Besides, it can't be a bad thing to equate God's Love with the love of an Aunt, right?
To start at the beginning.... We were sitting at the dinner table tonight with two girls with very little appetite, trying to engage them in something other than eating so that we could all stay at the table together peacefully for more than 3 minutes. We started with "What did you do in Sunday School this morning?"
Marin had a story about digging for coins. (I was attending to bring more food to the table so didn't quite get the gist of where that fit into what lesson.)
Ailey then asked to tell about Sunday School with the 1st graders. They had discussed measuring. Measuring what? God's Love. (I'm thinking: Ooooh, good one.) I asked her how they measured it and her response was that no one could determine how God's Love was measured. (Ooooh, even more interesting.)
Apparently someone suggested that God's Love went even farther than Heaven. That was a LONG way. Even farther than "To The Moon And Back" ... TWICE! Marin and Silje really got into the discussion at this point - they were very impressed that God's Love went even farther than Mom and Dad's Love. So impressed, in fact, that Marin was sure that God's Love must go farther than Heaven ... all the way to Texas!
Back to the difficult concept of distance at this age, when the girls ask to go see Aunt Sarah, Uncle Winnie, Luke and Sam, we invariably answer that Texas is too far to go for a quick visit. Really far. SO FAR that it takes a whole day to get there. So given that they don't ask to go anywhere that is farther than Texas, Texas must be about the end of the world in their heads. The end of the Universe, the farthest from everything. (Sarah might agree with that particular description.) And thus, if Texas is as far as they can imagine, then saying that God's Love measures as far Texas is probably a pretty accurate description.
If each of us were to measure God's Love by the farthest we could possibly imagine or conceive of, I'd guess our measurments would all be a little different depending on our concept of distance. So if Texas is the farthest place Marin can imagine, then I'll let her go with that analogy. Besides, it can't be a bad thing to equate God's Love with the love of an Aunt, right?
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Fancy Nancy
Ailey and I went to see a Fancy Nancy ballet today. The Fancy Nancy books are popular around our house (Ailey says "Posh Puppy" is her favorite), and we were really excited to hear that there is a new Fancy Nancy chapter book series coming out in a couple months.
One of the best parts about our trip to the ballet today was that we got that news from the illustrator herself - Robin Preiss Glasser. I didn't think to bring my camera with, so we don't have a picture of that conversation, but here is Ailey with her autographed Fancy Nancy book.
One of the best parts about our trip to the ballet today was that we got that news from the illustrator herself - Robin Preiss Glasser. I didn't think to bring my camera with, so we don't have a picture of that conversation, but here is Ailey with her autographed Fancy Nancy book.
We also enjoyed telling Ms. Glasser that Ailey's favorite book a few years ago was Garrison Keillor's "Daddy's Girl", which was illustrated by her too - it was Ailey's go-to book at reading time for at least a year when she was around 2 years old, and she could read it front to back from memory.
Ailey really enjoyed the ballet today, so we're both now looking forward to our next one!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Happy Birthday Party
Marin and Silje turn 4 on Wednesday. We had a family/friends birthday party today with a cowgirl theme - that is a fun one!
A friend of mine - a totally crafty, energetic, generous friend - offered to embroider some cowgirl shirts for the girls when she heard I was planning to do some iron-on ones for them. They turned out so cute, the girls LOVED them, and they now have a fun memory of their fourth birthday.
The other kids (neighbor Lucy, and Parker and Levi) also got hats, bandanas and sheriff badges and had some fun play-acting as cowgirls and cowboys.
We had some coloring and some farm stickers out to work with.
The cake (thanks to Wilton, and the over-zealous urge that comes to me only for my daughters' birthdays) and the horse-sprinkled cupcakes.
We sang to Marin first...
Then sang to Silje 3 hours later.... (Just kidding. We didn't make HER wait that long.)
A friend of mine - a totally crafty, energetic, generous friend - offered to embroider some cowgirl shirts for the girls when she heard I was planning to do some iron-on ones for them. They turned out so cute, the girls LOVED them, and they now have a fun memory of their fourth birthday.
The other kids (neighbor Lucy, and Parker and Levi) also got hats, bandanas and sheriff badges and had some fun play-acting as cowgirls and cowboys.
We had some coloring and some farm stickers out to work with.
The cake (thanks to Wilton, and the over-zealous urge that comes to me only for my daughters' birthdays) and the horse-sprinkled cupcakes.
We sang to Marin first...
Then sang to Silje 3 hours later.... (Just kidding. We didn't make HER wait that long.)
Silje - excited to turn 4!
Marin - excited to turn 4!
Friday, January 20, 2012
It Just Keeps Falling...
The snow just kept falling this week. The weather forecast kept calling for warmer temps and rain, but instead we got more snow and, in some places, ice. Now, give us a day of snow, maybe even two, and we'll appreciate the chance to play for a couple days in something we don't get every year. But a week of it? Let's just say that I am happy to hear the dripping sounds coming from outside as the warmer temps and rain start to take away all this white stuff! :)
Before the snow began to fall from the trees and the roof today, I got some pictures the couple of days before....
The birds went crazy for the bird feeders, since apparently they couldn't find their own food under the snow. The hummingbirds even fed when I thought theirs must be frozen.
The girls were quite put out that the new snowfall "ruined" their snowman.
My favorite part of the snow - how it can decorate the trees so precariously.
Marin in her new gear. Aunt Sharon, what do you call these? We differentiate from the pants and snowsuits by calling these "snowbibs".
Marin's snow gear must have been working well, because she enjoyed some time just laying out in the snow. You'd have thought she was at the beach!
Silje's favorite thing to do was to sled down the hills. She tried sitting, on her knees, laying down, and even tried to go down on her back once. I'm not sure why. It didn't work.
Her second favorite thing to do was to make snow angels. She buried herself this time and couldn't get up!
The last day of snowfall yesterday, the trees were weighed down, and the sled even got stuck in the thick powder.
After a whole week off school, I'm ready to get out and about this weekend. With the girls all home I haven't been able to get ready for the birthday party on Sunday, so I'm hoping the current 40 degrees and falling rain will help and I can get out to run errands tonight when Andy gets home.
Minnesota family: I hope you enjoy getting your snow back - we're done with it!
Before the snow began to fall from the trees and the roof today, I got some pictures the couple of days before....
The birds went crazy for the bird feeders, since apparently they couldn't find their own food under the snow. The hummingbirds even fed when I thought theirs must be frozen.
The girls were quite put out that the new snowfall "ruined" their snowman.
My favorite part of the snow - how it can decorate the trees so precariously.
Marin in her new gear. Aunt Sharon, what do you call these? We differentiate from the pants and snowsuits by calling these "snowbibs".
Marin's snow gear must have been working well, because she enjoyed some time just laying out in the snow. You'd have thought she was at the beach!
Silje's favorite thing to do was to sled down the hills. She tried sitting, on her knees, laying down, and even tried to go down on her back once. I'm not sure why. It didn't work.
Her second favorite thing to do was to make snow angels. She buried herself this time and couldn't get up!
The last day of snowfall yesterday, the trees were weighed down, and the sled even got stuck in the thick powder.
After a whole week off school, I'm ready to get out and about this weekend. With the girls all home I haven't been able to get ready for the birthday party on Sunday, so I'm hoping the current 40 degrees and falling rain will help and I can get out to run errands tonight when Andy gets home.
Minnesota family: I hope you enjoy getting your snow back - we're done with it!
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