Spring Break, Part 1

This week was Spring Break!  Yay!!!!  Except it's STILL cold and snowy.  This has been one of the coldest, longest winters on record and we are definitely feeling the cabin fever.  The kids and I have seen enough of our house and we needed to get out.  But since it was so cold still, I needed to come up with indoor activities.  So to start the week off, I took them bowling.  They both did great and had fun but Mommy still won with a whopping score of 107.  And that was with bumpers!  Obviously I don't play often.

Then later in the week we met up with our friend, Evie, at a play place to jump and play on large inflatables.  Afterwards, we went to lunch for burgers.  Madeline's favorite!  And Fia ordered her usual....a grilled cheese.

The Doc is In

Meet Doc McStuffins.  This is the kids' latest favorite show (besides Sofia the First).  It's an adorable show about a kid who helps stuffed dolls and animals get better.  After the Doc fixes them, then the doll or animal will sing that they "feel better."  So now whenever they play doctor together, the one being the patient will sing the song.  It is quite adorable!  

Madeline has also started having her own Stuffed Animal Clinic.  Here she is working on a giraffe and taking notes in her journal.  Will she be a doctor one day?  Or veterinarian? Notice her hair.  It's not an accident.  Doc McStuffins also has pigtails and wears a headband.

Library Storytime

I tried doing library story times in the past but they never went well.  Mostly because Fia would.not.sit.still. even for 2 seconds and once Fia was up and moving, Madeline followed right behind.  So I would stop going, try again months later for the same thing to happen and then stop again.  Well, recently I tried it again because we were getting bored being stuck in the house.  This time went much better and we've been going ever since.  Fia still has a hard time sitting still, but she will at least listen to most of the stories.  They both really look forward to going now because we always pick up new books while we are there too.  

After story time there is always some sort of craft for the kids. In this picture, they made a pretzel necklace.  I can't remember the theme for this day but you can't go wrong giving kids snacks.  The pretzels were eaten before we even left the library.   

Another day we went was a Circus theme.  That day they made elephants and colored them in.  Those are some pretty good lookin' elephants, I'd say!  

Madeline's Swimming Lessons

In preparation for the summer, we enrolled Madeline in swimming lessons at the YMCA.  She is in the beginner class called the Pikes and she'll go once a week for about 8 weeks.  Her first class was mostly going over the rules but she also got in the water and learned how to float on her back.  You could tell she was scared and she admitted that fact afterwards.  But I'm looking forward to seeing her confidence grow after these 8 weeks.  

Hmmm, I wonder where Fia is?

Fia is Tumbling now

Madeline used to do tumbling (click here to see), and now it's Fia's turn.  The first few classes didn't go so well and Fia didn't participate much.  I think she was overwhelmed by the new environment and trying to take it all in.  Now that we have a few classes under her belt, she is doing much better. She even said, "I love tumbling" the last time we went.

Here she is on her very first day wearing Madeline's old leotard.  She couldn't wait to put that on.

She ended up getting a new one of her own by Aunt Jenna.  She loves that one too!

Here are two short videos of her in action!

Afternoon Fun with Madeline

One afternoon while Fia was sleeping, Madeline and I were being goofy.

Madeline has moved up in the world

As you can tell by the huge smile on her face, she loves it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Madeline has had a pirate obsession lately, so I knew these were the perfect Valentine's for her to give out this year.  She loved them!  

Fia also made some super cute cards for her Valentine's.

What stole my heart, though, was this note.  Madeline wrote it to Fia totally unprovoked and I love it.  It says, "I love you Sophia."  

Madeline has some ball skills

It's been a typical cold winter around here.  So to get the kids out of the house, we go to Recreations Outlet and burn off some energy.  Here is Madeline showing her ball handling skills.