Victoria, the Photographer

Tonight I let Victoria shot some pictures on the camera. I'm pretty impressed- granted most were of her feet, or the flower vases, or the carpet... but she took some pretty good ones of the family.

OK, so she cropped my face out, but Bella looks good.

I like this picture of me. Maybe I should use it as my Facebook profile. I look content, which I am. I hope this is how she sees me.

I wish Jer was smiling more in this picture, but it was the only one of all of us that she took that wasn't upside down or our heads cut off. Victoria even posed us. "Sit on the floor, right here. Hold this dolly. Daddy sit here... Bella sit here... now SMILE!"

I just love this picture. I'll call it Victoria's Still Life. Love that texture and color!

Besides being a photographer, Victoria is currently expressing herself as a cook (she makes a mean peanut butter toast), a singer (look out American Idol), a teacher (yes, she loves playing "school" with her sister Bella as the pupil) and a hair stylist (last night she cut a 1/2 inch of real hair off of Bella while daddy was "watching them" although thank goodness, it's hardly recognizable)-it's all good.

Happy Valentines Day!

What a fun Valentine's Day! We got up and lounged around drinking coffee, until unexpectantly Dan, Kate, and Abby came by to give us a valentine. As they were here, Julie and Braelyn came by to borrow some milk and we let the kids play, hence the really great picture- what pretty Valentine colors everyone is wearing! Then later, we took the girls to Target to pick out a $10 toy, which they both picked out My Little Ponies, go figure. Jer had given me flowers and chocolates, but I also picked out a herb garden (my second, ruined the first from IKEA by watering it too much and accidentally leaving it outside to dry overnight) and new toilet seats that are plush for Jer's Valentine present:) (Don't let that fool you; I do care- I spent 2 hours yesterday making Cinnamon rolls for him as well.) After the girls' naps, Grandma Carol, Grandpa Dick, Josh, Renae, Caleb, Chloe and Kierra came by for a Valentine feast from Dickies BBQ. We talked and laughed and watched an episode of our favorite sitcom of the moment Arrested Development (goggle it right now at Hulu.com). Great day; great times! Hope yours was happy too!

Bella's Monday

On Monday's I drop Victoria off at school and usually make a grocery run with Bella, then get to have some fun one on one time with her to do some art or a Mommy and Me music video. Today Marlee and Chris got to come over for lunch. It is really interesting seeing Bella develop her own personality and play with other children besides Victoria. They were laughing and hiding under blankets and pillows. The living room furniture became their playground. I love seeing their minds work- how can we use this in a different way. Yesterday Bella took a marker and drew a long vertical line on every one of her fingers and across her knuckles, then tells me, "Look Mommy! I drew a rainbow!" It really did look like a rainbow. Although I should also note that she drew a mural on my living room carpet with that same marker- not so fun.

Victoria is surprising me with the things she's learning. I think in the last month something has clicked. Yesterday I was helping her fill out Valentines for her class. After helping her write her name twice, she says, "No I want to write it myself." She did it all by herself!!! Granted most of the letters are upside down or inverted. But I could make it out. I'm amazed. She is also starting to figure out the whole alphabet thing. Yesterday I quizzed her to see how many she knew- she knew half the alphabet; last month she knew just 6 letters. She's also starting to get really detailed about her stories that she tells. Yesterday she was on a kick telling me about her upcoming birthday party (not for 3 months). She's decided that it's going to be a princess one and that the boys can dress as Spiderman or princes. We'll be playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey, but it'll be a princess. We'll have pink balloons, but a couple of purple ones "would be fine too." They'll be a princess pinata... the games will be... the people invited... we'll have this game over here... and... did I mention the pink cupcakes? This morning she woke up and asked if it was her birthday yet? It's going to be a long 3 months.

On this Valentine I helped her with the "ia"; the rest she did herself.

Another cute Victoria story. Last night Jay came over for supper and Victoria was describing her birthday to him. He asked how old she was- 3, how old she'll be- 4, and how old an adult is- 18- she replies. Then she says, "I'll be 4 in a little while, and 18 after that, and then I die." We all laughed- apparently once you hit adulthood, you're old and you die. (I did explain it to her correctly though.)

Going Out

Last night Jer and I got to have a night out on the town. My parents came over and took the girls to a park and then had hot dogs, while we went to my favorite Thai place Samui. Afterward we went to the Far Point Cellars to do a flight of reds; it was okay, but I prefer Pinot Noirs. We were craving something sweat, so I remembered that Pichugo had opened up beside IKEA. I had some kind of yummy every favor of chocolate ice cream- delicious. Then we came home and talked to my parents. We actually got home just as the girls were getting into bed, so they heard us and wanted to stay up for a while. It was a good night.

Scrapbook Retreat

I went on a Scrapbook Retreat this past weekend. I was gone Friday starting at 9am until Sunday at 5pm (3 whole days without my kids- a first!) I had such a wonderful time. I met some new friends and hung out with an old one, ate tons of (not-so-good-for-me-but-who-cares-I'm-on-a-retreat) food, and finished 6 out of the 7 projects that I took. I don't really consider myself a Scrapbooker, because I didn't add the cool flare to the pages, but I did lay them out and bind them. I think I'm more of a blogger, but I would definitely go back again. My friends in the picture are Shanna, Jenni, me, Trisha, and Jaime.

1st Ballet Class

Today was Victoria and Bella's first dance class. I didn't think we were going to have it, due to the ice storm, however, I'm glad we did. I had to wake the girls up from their naps, and Victoria protested all the way there. "I don't want to go to ballet class!" (Big fit!) But once inside the studio, it was Bella who let out a big scream with pouting lips- "Mommy!"

They looked so cute! They did tap first for 20 minutes, then ballet. There class has 6 girls in it, and they are probably the youngest. I think the others are four years old, whereas Bella is two and Victoria three. I kept peeking in at them (through the only window which is super small and so high that I have to tip toe to see) and several times was mortified to find my girls totally not paying attention. The first time I see all the other girls up front with the teacher, and Bella and Victoria are in the back of the room lying on the floor on their stomachs and elbows with their hands under their chins. The other parents made me feel better and said that this is common at that age and that their kids did the same thing, however they also we're laughing hysterically at them as well.

Yes, my kids provided the comic relief of the day. One time when I peeked in I saw the kids (including Bella) following directions and doing jumps- all except Victoria who chose to do her own production of Swan Lake- sitting on the floor with her legs under her and hands in the air swaying. Several other times I saw her checking herself out in the mirror and creating her own ballet program.

Bella was a good pupil. She tried to do everything the teacher did and you could tell she was paying attention with all of her might. I was also surprised when the teacher had everyone sit down and stretch and saw that Bella can put her head to her knee with no force.

It was really good having both girls in the same class. In the beginning, they stayed together and I think it helped Victoria as much as Bella. Victoria is my shy one and it takes her about 30 minutes in a new environment before she's able to be herself; I think having Bella there cut the time in half. And it benefited Bella because her sister was a friendly face- she only cried for the first 30 seconds and then held Victoria's hand.

I couldn't take pictures at the dance studio, because the windows were so high up and I thought there would be a glare. Once the girls were home I asked them to show me what they had learned, hence, these pictures. I should note that the girls did not want to leave class after it was over and wanted to go find their teacher and say hi. I think Victoria's glad I dragged her out of bed today.

BUG!

It was a rough night last night. Bella woke up at 1am screaming "BUG!" at the top of her lungs. I jumped out of bed and met her in the doorway still screaming. She pointed to her bed and wouldn't move- Bug, Bug, Bug! I threw back the covers, tossed the stuffed animals on the floor, and checked under the pillow- nothing. She then pointed to a large object on the floor; I pick it up and explain that this is her monkey. She then grabs it and points to another dark object on the floor; I pick it up and explain that this is her doll. Its then that I realize that I let her read Miss Spider's Tea Party (with all of the bugs) before she went to bed. She runs out of the room. I hold her and try to rock her to sleep in the living room, but she keeps waking up and looking for bugs. I move to the spare bedroom and put her on the bed lying with me, thinking I'll get some sleep too- not. Finally after turning on all the lights in the room, rubbing her back, and singing, does she drift off at 4am. I do have to say she's also sick right now. She was throwing up on Sunday and then yesterday started to get the cold- runny nose, cough, slight fever; and I'm giving her cold medicine. Moral of the story- no more Miss Spider before bed and more TLC for Bella.