A Budding Artist

Collins loves to create. She loves to paint flowers and rainbows, she loves to draw pictures of our family members, she loves to cut things out and paste them together in unusual ways, and she loves to take random objects around the house and turn them into "art". I think it's really cool how she thinks outside the box and gets in "the zone" when she is creating.

I recently dared to clean out from under the bed in the guest bedroom. That is where years of Collins's artwork has been "stored" and trust me, she brings home A LOT. I have some of her favorite pieces on display above the mantel, but I decided to take pictures of the other pieces for permanent record. Then I trashed them (sorry C when you read this someday- there is simply not enough room in our house for all of them!). But I thought it would be neat to post the progress she has made over the years in the art department.

It all started with a bunch of swirls and the realization that painting was fun...

Then a story accompanied the swirls..."This is a cave and a little girl is living in it. And she is scared because inside was a bear."

Then an actual image formed...

That gave her the confidence to try to draw people...

and eventually those people turned into our family. Love our varying sizes and hairstyles. :)

Then Collins decided she would look fancier with a tiara...

A little while later, her figures took on more realistic facial features...

Drawing a self portrait was one of the early assignments in the 4's class this year. I laughed when I saw that C gave hers rainbow hair (and a tiara)...

She was really excited when she realized she could draw flowers (and write her name!)...

and use stencils at school to create a make her first mermaid.

She paints almost daily at school now and very quickly her pictures have become more detailed, colorful and impressive!

I love seeing the progression! I'm really proud of her and her burgeoning art skills.

First Cooking Class

Missy had the fabulous idea to take a cooking class together to celebrate my birthday. How sweet of her and what a fun idea! I had never taken a cooking class before and quickly picked out, "Four Desserts Every Cook Should Know" as the one for us. Since Missy and I share a love of baking, it was the perfect choice!

A pastry chef taught the class, and she had three assistants who prepped our ingredients, cleaned up our messes, and offered us snacks. I could get used to cooking that way! We made four recipes which was challenging for the two-hour time period we had. We made chocolate mousse, creme brulee, a Grand Marnier souffle, and a lemon tart. I don't know that I would have been brave enough to try these recipes on my own so I am so thankful I had the chance to make them with a professional and ask lots of questions along the way. We learned a lot and got to taste test our creations. It was AWESOME. Plus, it was fun to hang out with Missy and work in the kitchen together. Such a neat way to spend an afternoon...no doubt I'll be signing up for another class soon. Thanks so much, Missy!

Goodbye Paci...The Second Time Around

Taking away Collins's paci was a traumatic process for her and for us. So we vowed with daughter #2 that we would take it away much sooner so it would not be as hard for her. Well...easier said than done. Addie has never been a good sleeper, and I was in no rush to take away the one thing that made it a little easier.

But on Addie's first trip to the dentist, we found out that she was already developing an overbite (from the paci) so we decided it was time to take it away. Collins was 2 1/2 when we did it; Addie would be two, but luckily Addie was not quite as attached as her sister was. 

So we waited for the holidays to pass and then decided to do it the same way we did it with Collins...with a goodbye paci party and then go cold turkey!

I checked out the blog book to remember how we did it with Collins. Look how cute and little she was! I was a bit disturbed to read in the post that her sleep was disturbed for a whole month after we took the paci away. Oh no...I had forgotten that part.

Well, it was too late to turn back now. We were already in party mode! I made a brownie cake for the occasion (inspired by Jack Kasper's fabulous bday cake) and Donna and Marty came over to help us drive home the message. We told Addie that now that she was two years old, she was a big girl and didn't need the paci anymore. That only babies used paci's. She seemed to buy it. :)

 

Then of course there was bribery. Donna and Marty gave her an awesome light up toothbrush...

and a back-up lovie just in case!

And I was really hoping an Elsa nightgown (to match her big sister's) might really make her feel like a big girl. I think it did! 

 Collins donned her Elsa gown pretty quickly after that...

After the party, there was lots of teeth brushing.... 

in the dark. :)

So Addie seemed to "get" the message we were telling her at the party. Then we put her to bed, and she screamed. But not for as long as we thought she would. She impressed us that first night! The second night didn't go as well, but it wasn't terrible so we were hopeful.

Then she got sick with a cold. That's where things went downhill and none of us slept for the next week. Had she not gotten sick, I think the whole process would have been pretty easy. But now two weeks later, she is just starting to sleep normally again. But it could have been much worse! She doesn't mention the paci anymore and is looking like such a big girl these days...proud of you, Addie!

Let's Take a Break

The week after Christmas we took a break. A break from planning, a break from eating (tried but football was on), a break from going places. And it was fabulous. I was sad when our week of doing nothing came to an end. Because doing nothing was really fun...

When left with some free time, the girls ended up dressing up. In princess dresses...

after all, they do have a lot to choose from these days!

Mom's shoes are another favorite...

We also played with new toys...dear Lord, please let these girls be athletic. :)

 When we ventured out of the house, we headed to Collins's favorite- the science museum. We learned a lot about snakes that day.

Or we'd do REALLY exciting things like go through the car wash...afterwards Addie demanded, "more", "more."

 

My favorite thing about our week off was how well the girls got along. Recently, I had been worrying because they weren't getting along. There was lots of nitpicking and blaming and fussing. But over the course of that week something switched. I'm not sure if it's because Addie turned two (Collins mentioned that "now that Addie is two we can play together!") or because they spent quality time together, but they really enjoyed each other's company during our break. Case in point- Collins performed her first ever hair washing for her sister and told her, "Turn around, Addie! I'll give you a crazy hairstyle!". Sounds good to me. ;)

One Final Christmas Surprise...

We were anxious to get back to Raleigh because we had one final present waiting for the girls in the backyard...yep, we got them a swing set! We have wanted to get them a playset for the backyard for a long time, and we decided the time was finally right. We finalized the details back in October, and I think that's why I got so excited about Christmas so early this year. I COULD NOT WAIT to see their expressions and make them so happy with this gift. And I thought it was neat that this present would be their the grand finale to Christmas!

The playset was installed the day after Christmas when we were in Hickory so we had only seen pictures of what it looked like (thanks for the help Donna and Marty!). So Brian and I would be seeing it for the first time too. After a long road trip, we told them about 10 minutes from the house that we had one final present to give them. We took them through the house and told them to close their eyes. Addie didn't know how to do that so she just watched Collins do it. Then we told them to OPEN!

The girls were playing happily when we heard noises outside the fence. Turns out our neighbors Kinsey and Sam had come over to deliver a birthday party invitation. So they helped the girls break in the new play set.

   

It got dark and we came in to eat dinner, and then they went out to play more. Not sure why Addie is not wearing a shirt!

After they woke up the next morning, they went straight outside to play again (in their new ballet and gymnastic outfits of course). 

Later that week, we found new ways to use our new swing set. We had a picnic downstairs and a snack upstairs in the fort. 

The weather has not been cooperative lately (really rainy or really cold) so we haven't gotten to play as much as we'd like, but there were a couple of balmy days that gave me a glimpse of the future. Lots of sun, smiles, and fun to be enjoyed in our backyard. Bring on Spring!