Tap and Ballet, a Princess' Dream

Little S has been wanting to do ballet and tap for as long as she has been able to realize it. She took a ballet class last year and loved it, and there just so happen to be a late opening for a combo tap/ballet class at a cute place close to our house here, so we signed her up and she loves it. She had to wear a black/light pink getup in Dallas, but here, anything goes, even princess dresses (so Seattle). So I've been informed (by Little S) that I need to get to getting on some type of princessy outfit.

Will try to post a video from class soon...

Fireplace remodel

Here are a few pics of our fireplace remodel. It changed the entire living room! It took about 4 days, they tore out all the original brick, made a thinner cinder block shell, and used a stacked stone veneer. We love it! (we also painted the walls!)

Mighty Mermaids win their first game!

The Mighty Mermaids won their first game, and S got a goal! She was incredibly aggressive, which we didn't expect. It is a disconcerting feeling to see your sweet little baby take a slice out of someone for the first time. The coaches were pleased with their first game, and if the point was to have fun, they did that and more. Good game girls!

Try to ignore my screaming on the video of S's goal...

Big Boy Haircut

We had our first haircut today for the little man (18 mos old). It has been a battle between V and I, V not wanting the haircut yet, and me being driven insane by the scraggly mess. So we went today and things went south as soon as we sat in the chair and put on the little cape. No amount of toys did the trick, so off came the cape. Still, not on board, so I turned to my old favorite, the lollipop. Worked like a charm!

Instantly, the tears begin to dry, the lollipop not to be removed for the duration of the haircut. This is his first lollipop, he will never let it loose.

Sure, shear me, do whatever you have to do, as long as I have my lollipop.

Uh-oh, the lollipop finished before the haircut, better chance of distraction with toys once the goodwill of the lollipop has been established.

What a cute little man! Dad is going to love it!

First Day of School!

The first day of 1st grade was a success! We walked to school with two kids on our street also starting first grade this year. She really likes her teacher(s) and one of our neighbors and a couple of girls from soccer are in her class. While her class this year ended up being a little unorthodox for the norm here (2 teachers:34 kids to keep the ratio to 1:17) she apparently loves it, so we're going with it (despite the morning scowl on her face in the pics.) Things are a little more slow paced here in general, and class hours are 8:30 to 3, except Wed when they are 8:30 to 1:30, and there are 3 recesses and a snack time (so far snacks and recess seem to be the most newsworthy each day.) I personally like the slower pace, but I miss the uniforms though. :-)

Kindergarten is still half day here, and Little S will start that next year. Hope everyone has a great school year! We miss all of our Dallas school friends, and are looking forward to making new ones!

Hike on Tiger Mountain

We went hiking on a good beginner's trail called Tiger Mountain. It's a slowly elevating and windy trail through the forest up a mountain that branches off to some more difficult trails. It was partly cloudy and 65 degrees, a beautiful and leisurely hike (and it's still so strange and wonderful to us that there are no mosquitos!) We came across something on the path that we thought was dog poop, but on closer inspection... was a huge slug! We went for about an hour, but we all could have gone longer if little bubby would have been game, which after an hour, he was not. He wanted to get out of the carrier and walk, but there were some cliff dropoffs along the way. Once we turned back and got on a more even ground, we let him walk and we picked wild blackberries. Afterwards, V remembered a well-touted rootbeer float place close by that we had been to a long time ago on a trip to Seattle when Big S was little bubby's age (picture to follow if I can get my hands on it). Naturally, you get rootbeer floats after a hike.