We still have snow and if you saw the blog throughout January and February you couldn’t have missed the videos and/or pictures of Elizabeth’s first and second ski lessons! She is a natural! Although I spent a morning on skis myself, I found I prefer sitting in the lodge watching her ski more than anything else. It was a great experience and I am thrilled to know that I am capable of skiing down the hill unassisted and without falling! I am proud of Elizabeth and seeing how much she enjoyed herself I am sure she will continue to ski next year.
The girls had their first Gymnastics Mini Olympics (I just removed those videos to make room for new pictures). It is great to see how coordinated they CAN be. Becca has come a long way just in being comfortable with doing things that she wasn't perfect at the first time or that she thought was hard. I remember seeing the teachers tag-team her (in some ways tricking her) to get to try the bar again... and again. Now she jumps around excited when it's her turn. I also remember watching Elizabeth timid on the beam (and for good reason, as she has a reminder of the big fall with the missing the front tooth), but watching her now I see a confident and capable young lady as she gracefully, carefree and balanced walks across the high beam. When they start doing flips on the beams I think I will either a) not be able to watch their rehearsals or b) try to convince them to try an activity that involves less risk and scaring their mother.
Elizabeth wants to try Karate - I'll admit I am not thrilled about watching that either. Becca is still interested in Ballet, but seems satisfied by Gymnastics for now. We are keeping our eyes open for a good class for her. Elizabeth stars spring Soccer soon, which I think she'll enjoy. I still want to give the girls some sort of music lessons, but haven't seen anything worth while in the area recently. They will both do swim lessons again this summer, which will be Becca's first. It is different when they sign up for just a few weeks of lessons vs play/swim at the club every week. This was obvious to me when watching them play in the pool last weekend. Something else I considered the girls being involved in is horse riding lessons. I mentioned this a few times last year and we were close a few times, but it wasn't until just a few weekends ago that they were able to finally ride! While nervous at first, both girls rode separately and had a great time. While riding lessons might not be for us right now, I am hopeful they will get to continue their encounters with horses.
February was a busy month for my family. My sister had baby Carter on Valentine's Day. He was a big baby and there were some complications, but everyone is healthy now. Also, my dad turned 50! He still seems young at heart and can party harder than anyone I know in their 40's (possibly 30's, too).
Speaking of 50, the theatre was going to put on the show "The Big Five Oh!" about a man turning 50. Unfortunately we were short one female for the play, which would be rehearsing now, and I wasn’t reluctant to cancel this one. The theatre has been pretty inactive, but even with no play going on I have found myself to be busy.
My oldest is FIVE years old! I cannot believe how fast she is growing up. Elizabeth had a pool party (indoor pool) with some of her preschool friends (and other friends and family). She picked out a princess cake and asked for Barbie’s. Since there was an alligator on the invitation she requested we get one for the pool and the frantic search for a pool blow-up toy in February was well worth it, because they spent over an hour playing on it! Along with the birthday party, Elizabeth got to have dinner with Grammy, Bumpa and Aunt Frances at Red Robin , breakfast with Nana and Grandpa at IHOP, and lunch alone with mommy at Pita Pit (her top favorite places to eat).
While we had lunch just the two of us, our main reason for being out was shopping for a fancy dress for the Father-Daughter Dance. We had a great time shopping and she was more than excited to finally get to go to the dance. The theme this year was Mardi Gras. Matt bought her a corsage and took her out to dinner before the dance. He said she had a lot of fun and enjoyed dancing on stage with the older girls. She didn't get home until about 10pm!
Also, for her birthday, although done a few weeks early, Elizabeth had her ears pierced. I cannot tell you how excited I was when she finally told me she wanted to get them done, and since she had been saying "NO, NO, NO!" for months/years, we didn’t hesitate and had them done within the hour she said she was interested! She chose earrings with her birthstone, Amethyst, so we had to get purple clothes to match for her 5 years pictures (yes, she is my daughter). Her pictures turned out GREAT this year! She is sassy and has attitude in every picture – the photographer did a great job of capturing Elizabeth’s personality.
The girls continue to share a room and play together well. Becca's not a great listener (she's 3) and Elizabeth wants us to buy her everything (she's 5). Other than going through these phases, our girls are absolute angels and a joy to watch and be around. Grammy said it well when she said " Did you know Elizabeth doesn't stop talking?" and she is the quiet one! Check out Becca's monster story video - we hear AT LEAST two versions of this story a day. Becca is also going through the "I want to do everything myself" and "I want to help" phases. They are both growing up so fast!
Last week we toured a new preschool. Since Elizabeth will be starting KINDERGARTEN in September, we need to move her somewhere closer that can transport her to the school. Kindergarten registration was last Thursday. The girls love the YMCA and they offer so much, but Stepping Stone Christian School is an excellent preschool in Liberty Lake. Had there been room two years ago and we realized how relative the costs actually are, we probably would have enrolled them there in the first place. We are lucky that they have room for them now. Something about Elizabeth: She makes attachments to people. She talks about her teachers, Miss Jennifer and Miss Marlene, as if they are her best friends. I fear she will miss them and this might make the transition to the new school a little harder on her. I am looking forward to dropping her off, picking her up and hearing all about her day at school!
