Little Girl, Big School

On Thursdays I not only pick up Ava from school but also another little girl, Jaelyn, and take her to the dance studio. Jaelyn is a patrol, so I get Ava first and then we wait for Jaelyn. Today she seemed a little later than usual, and I wanted to be sure that we hadn't missed her. Ava and I were waiting in the school lobby, and while we were waiting I saw Ava hug at least two of the other patrol girls. When I eventually mentioned that maybe we should ask if anyone had seen Jaelyn, Ava wasted no time in walking up to a patrol it was clear she didn't know and ask if she had seen Jaelyn. The girl politely told Ava she hadn't seen her and suggested that they could check in the after school care room. So I stood where I was and watched Ava walk down the hall with this girl in search of our riding buddy.

As I watched her, I couldn't help but think back to when I was around her age. I remember thinking the "big" sixth and seventh graders were SO much older. They seemed like grown ups, but cooler. I would never in a million years had the courage to talk to any of them, even the older siblings of my friends. My daughter is not intimidated by anyone. She had a job to do, saw someone she knew she could trust and who could help her, and did the job she needed to do. Even as an adult I admire her for her gumption. She certainly didn't get it from me, and I love her for it.

Family Time

Today we had a brief but great visit from my brother, his wife, and their son. Kevin has gotten a job just outside of Albany, so they made our house their last stop before driving up to New York. We got to see Kevin and Marissa when we visited Texas last summer, but this was our first time getting to meet Josiah. Everyone had fun - the adults got to recover from a long day of driving, and Jojo got to run around and get some energy out in a space bigger than a hotel room. Our guests will leave first thing in the morning, so it was a short visit. But it is exciting to have some more family a little closer by. I wish this little family nothing but the best as they embark on this exciting new adventure together, and hope that they come back to visit again soon.

Let Me Entertain You

Today was a commissary day. I usually make my grocery runs on Mondays, but yesterday I had other errands to run so we got pushed back to today. I cannot begin to describe how much I did NOT want to go. I was tired and unmotivated, but since we were running low on pretty much everything I loaded up Jocelyn and Molly and set off.

I have to start off by saying it wasn't a bad trip. The children were not awful by any stretch. They were not angels either, so much of my time pushing a broken cart (let me tell you how much fun THAT was) I got to listen to the girls bickering at each other or whining at me. Add that to my wonderful disposition in the first place, and by the time we were heading to the checkout I could not move fast enough.

True to Murphy's Law, we pulled up to check out at the same time as everyone else. I was pulling the front of the cart forward as we moved along, and Jocie was pushing from the back. As I'm standing looking at nothing in particular, I notice Jocelyn making a funny noise. I look back to see her wiggling her fingers near her face and making silly noises and faces at the lady standing behind us. I hesitated, then looked apprehensively at this lady who my daughter was either amusing or terrorizing. Fortunately, it was the former, and the lady and Jocelyn made faces and laughed at each other for a few more minutes until we got up to our register. I love my kids unconditionally, but know that others are not required to. I was glad to find that today Jocie was able to bring a smile to someone else's day, as well as remind me to enjoy the smiles and forget about the ever-fleeting complaints and whines.

A Girl's Best Friend

Today Molly "got" to come with me to run errands all day. Since Ben has been home to help with watching the kids, it's been a while since Molly and I had a day together. She was a trooper, getting in and out of cars, carts, and strollers without protest, and I rewarded her with a few minutes playtime at the mall's play area.

Fast forward to bedtime this evening. Maybe I spoil Molly - I certainly didn't do this with my other two when they were this old - but every night I sit in my rocking chair with Molly on my lap, just for two or three minutes, before putting her to bed. Sometimes she'll tell me about what she did that day (like I wasn't there with her), other times she'll sing to me or babble to herself. This evening, Molly looked at me and put my face in both of her hands. I said, "I love you so much." To which she replied, "I love you so much, Mommy." And then, out of nowhere, she added, "You're my best friend." Well, kiddo, you are certainly one of my best friends too. It's moments like these that are why I love being a mom. I can have a day full of not-so-great moments with the kids (I didn't today, but it certainly happens), but a single sweet moment can erase all the bad in an instant. It may not have been a big deal for Molly to say those words, but they mean the world to me. Even if just for today, I was not just Molly's Momma but her friend, and that is an honor I truly cherish.

The Wonderful World of the Arts

I'm not sure how it happened, but I found myself watching the Oscars this evening. I'm not typically a big awards show watcher, but I was glad if nothing else to have watched to see the incredible tribute to musicals from the past decade. I love musicals - and not just the go-to The Sound of Music and Grease, but anything from Rent to Newsies to Chicago and so many others. There is an indescribable element that music and dancing add to the telling of a story. As I was thinking of all this, I realized how glad I am that my children are learning to love the arts as well. My house is filled with song, dance, and drawing at all times. I feel very proud that Ben and I are sharing with our children these fantastic forms of self-expression, and hope that the arts continue to fill our lives for many more years to come.

Pretty Eyes

Dance competition season is approaching. This year in an attempt to make the first weekend of hair and make up less stressful the teachers at the studio had us bring the kids in to be "inspected" to make sure we all know what we're doing. For the most part I was not worried - I have done Ava's hair and make up for years now. The difference for us this go-around was she is now required to wear false eyelashes. I won't even go into how I feel about this (that is a rant for another day) but I was worried about how Ava would handle the actual applying of the eyelashes. I've heard enough horror stories that I was not excited to try and glue something to my six-year-old's eyelid. However, turned out once again I had nothing to fear. Ava sat through it like a champ. She didn't flinch, whine, or say a single word of complaint. Not gonna lie, I don't know that I would handle it that well. There are occasions in which I wonder why we are doing some of the crazy stuff we do for dance. Then I see Ava take it all in stride and not let it bother her; I see her glow every time she practices and performs. It may all seem crazy to me, but my daughter is growing in self-confidence and self-esteem every day she dances. I suppose I can suffer through some eyelash glue in support of her passion.

Sweet Dreams

Tonight I put the girls to sleep by myself for the first time in a while. It is always nice to have both adults to put the kids to bed - the odds for success are slightly better. But tonight was one of those nights when all three girls were mellow and bedtime was a breeze. I sat and practiced reading with Ava for several minutes, then read a book to her and Jocie before prayers and saying good-night. Molly had meanwhile been quietly watching her favorite nighttime show (the Pajanimals) so I sat and watched the final few minutes with her before taking her upstairs for some rocking and saying prayers. All three girls went down with no problems, and at least sounded as though they went right to sleep. We all missed Daddy in our bedtime routine, but it was nice that the girls cut me some slack and made my solo putting-to-bed a success.

Fashion (Non)Sense

All of my daughters have had a strong fashion sense from a young age. Ava went through a year or so in which dress up costumes were the attire of choice. Jocelyn has not been as strong in her opinions but in general would rather be in a dress or skirt to twirl around in. Just over the last week or so Molly has become attached to a certain nightgown. This nightgown was originally Ava's. It is brown with polka dots and ballet slippers on the front, and hasn't really been worn by either of my younger children since we now live somewhere that gets genuinely cold in the winter. Suddenly, however, this is the ONLY thing that Molly wants to wear. When I go into her room first thing in the morning, the first words out of her mouth these days are, "Where my polka dots? I need my polka dots!!" Heaven forbid we have to leave the house and I actually attempt to put her in real clothes... "I no like my clothes! I wanna my polka dots!!" (Picture with this speech a very angry Molly face.) My girls have been specific with clothes but never had a SINGLE favorite item of clothing. This poor nightgown is getting washed more than any garment should, and maybe I am enabling my daughter, but there is something to be said for peace in the universe, and these days if wearing "polka dots" every day brings about a smidge more peace I can live with that.

Classy Ladies

I was hanging out in the living room this afternoon with Jocelyn and Molly. We were talking and playing, and somewhere along the line I ended up sitting cross-legged on the floor with Jocelyn sitting on one of my legs and Molly on the other. I don't remember now if it was intentional or accidental, but one of the girls snorted. This led to all three of snorting randomly at each other for a solid 5 or 10 minutes. The girls were laughing SO hard. I am not usually a fan of the less ladylike noise-making, but the giggles of my children will make me do some strange things. It was a silly, fantastic few moments, the kind of moment that brings a smile to my face recalling it hours later.

Jocie's 4!

Today marks another birthday for miss Jocelyn Rose. She had a pretty fantastic day - a playdate with her one friend who couldn't make it to her party on Sunday, dance class, chicken nuggets and tater tots for dinner (per her request) and chocolate milkshakes for dessert, and present-opening to cap the day off. (Somehow Jocelyn has held off even opening the presents from her party until tonight - kind of weird if you ask me!) I tried to be as lenient as possible with discipling without letting her break basic rules. Overall, she was happy most of the day and seemed to enjoy a bit of extra attention.

On this day four years ago I welcomed my second daughter into the world. Never did I imagine the young lady she is growing into. Jocelyn is my emotional child, as I've said many times. There is no small feeling - she is either jumping up and down with glee, or shaking with anger, or literally "WAH"ing with her mouth wide open. She is also my hugger; she will run to anyone at any given time and almost knock them down with her passionate embrace. She loves being the middle sister, looking up to Ava and following her example while showing Molly the ropes and helping her along the way. She is learning to be a true friend, and is incredibly loyal to those she chooses to hold close to her heart. She really enjoys putting together puzzles, and is incredibly good at them. She completes 25-piece puzzles without thinking twice, and is quickly learning to do the bigger ones on her own as well. She loves her dance class, and cannot wait to be a ballerina on stage at the recital this summer. She wants absolutely nothing to do with any kind of meat other than McDonald's-grade chicken nuggets, and would eat her weight in sweets if I would only let her. She would rather be in a dress most days, and has asked every day this winter if it's warm outside yet so she can wear what she wants and not freeze. This kid is pretty darn amazing, and I love her more than words can say. I hope that today she felt half as special as she truly is to me. Happy birthday, Jocie Rose, and here's to many more incredible birthdays on this crazy terrific ride we get to take together.

Jocelyn's "it's my birthday!" pose 

lunch playdate with Anna

A special birthday brownie

homemade chocolate milkshake - DELICIOUS!!

the carnage from opening gifts, each one of which was "just what she wanted!!"

The Price Paid

This evening we had over for dinner the family of a girl in Ava's dance group. It was yet another lovely evening in which the kids ran around doing who-knows-what (as long as they're not hurting each other or my house I interfere as little as possible), Ben had some man-time with another dad, and I got to have some quiet conversation with another adult with few interruptions. This was all well and good... except we were having such a great time it was about 8:45pm by the time they left our house. To be clear, this is 45 minutes after my daughters are usually in their beds with the lights out. So needless to say that while Ava was very agreeable and cooperative with going straight to bed, the younger two both melted down fairly quickly. At one point I was in Molly's room with her screaming and leaning on my shoulder while I could hear Ben in the next room with a near-hysterical Jocelyn. I couldn't help but start to laugh. Because it was complete craziness, but I was okay with that being the price we had to pay for a nice evening with friends. Sometimes a few extra minutes sharing stories and laughs are worth the tears of overstimulation and exhaustion.

Birthday Week Begins

Today marks Day 1 of what will turn out to be a birthday WEEK for Jocelyn. And we started off with a bang, having her party at Chuck E. Cheese. Let me first start by saying that we went to a party of one of Jocie's classmates on a Sunday morning just a few weeks ago. His was one of only two parties, and the entire store was fairly quiet. I thought that would make this a great day to have a party.

We arrived to discover we were one of EIGHT parties going on simultaneously. It was mayhem at its finest. But Jocelyn was in heaven. From the moment she woke up this morning she was singing "Happy Birthday to me!" and get this sheepish grin on her face. We walked into Chuck E. Cheese and she reveled in every second of her party. In the beginning she ran around playing as many games as she could, blowing through tokens like I've never seen anyone do. When it was time to sit at our table, she got up and danced and hugged and high-fived Chuck E. when he came around. I had the "privilege" of going into the Ticket Blaster with her. She was so ridiculously giddy to be in there, it made me laugh so hard. Highlight of the entire party: while in the Ticket Blaster Jocelyn caught a ticket WITH HER TEETH. She looked up at me with this grin and a ticket in the middle and I about died. I came home far more tired than any house party I've ever had to clean and prep for. But today was Jocelyn's perfect day, and that made every bit of exhaustion more than worth it.

walking in with her box of goody bags - we were on a mission!

The Birthday Girl

Molly riding with Barney - she was sure to give him a kiss and say thank you when the ride was over

merry-go-rounding with Marian

horse ride

Jocie's cake, courtesy of miss Sharon (as always)

I'm not sure why, but she was REALLY excited about this ride

Molly... not so much

Jocelyn playing with her friend Brennan

our party table

Ava being a great sport 

almost cake time!

getting crowned by Chuck E.

and the Birthday Star medallion

catching tickets!!

I hate that this is blurry, but the look of pure joy is hard to miss ;)

Chuck E. Cheese birthday party a success!

Never Grow Up

This afternoon Ava was practicing one of her dance routines in her bedroom. The song is Never Grow Up by Taylor Swift. We got a burned copy of the cut music yesterday so she could get some extra practice in, and so she was twirling away in her room running the routine 4 or 5 times. When she was finished, she went downstairs to play.

Meanwhile, Molly had apparently been watching way more closely than I realized. She went over to the CD player, hit play, and began dancing to Ava's music herself. And not normal little kid-spaztic dancing either. Her movements were very deliberate, graceful and sweet. When the song would end, Molly would simply go back over to the player and hit Play again. She danced on her own for 30 minutes straight, if not more. It's a very dear song and dance when Ava performs it, but bittersweet at times to watch. It was even more so watching my 2-year-old dancing her heart out to a song telling her to Never Grow Up. Maybe don't NEVER grow up, Molly, but slowing down just a tad would be fine.

This is a snippet of her dancing. It's not great and doesn't begin to adequately show the sweetness of the scene, but as usual it was the best I could do. To give you an idea: one of the moves Ava does is putting her head in her hands and pretending to sleep - that is why Molly puts her own head in her hands a few times amid her own choreography

Happy Riser

The last three mornings Molly has woken up earlier than usual. Not by a few minutes, but by half an hour. 6:30am rolls around, and all of a sudden like clockwork that kid is awake talking to herself and yelling for me to come and get her. I have made it a rule with all three of my kids that if they want to deprive themselves of some good sleep time I don't care, but I do not wake up until 7am. So until 7 Molly is stuck in her crib.

Fortunately, this does not seem to bother her a bit. She has never woken up crying, or gotten annoyed after a certain amount of time that I am not in there to take her out of her bed. She sings songs, plays with the plethora of stuffed animals she sleeps with, and does whatever it takes to occupy herself. She knows that I don't make her stay in there longer than is reasonable and therefore waits patiently (albeit loudly) until I can drag myself out of bed and into her room. I do not like this extra early rising one bit, but I am thankful that my child can entertain herself and knows that eventually, in my own good time, I will release her from her baby prison and she can start her day.

A Lot of Love

Today is Valentine's Day. A day when people go out of their way to outwardly show others how much they are loved. Anyone who knows me knows that this is not my favorite day by any means. I am not an outwardly emotional person. I am blessed to have many family and friends in my life who I love dearly. But I am not big into hugging; I don't like saying "I love you." I struggle to tolerate anyone inside my personal bubble for more than a few seconds. I am stoic, an ice queen, whatever you want to say - but Valentine's Day and all of its expressed emotions are not my cup of tea.

Having said all of this, I spent today doing my best to tip toe outside my own personal comfort zone. Because Valentine's Day is about relationships, and respecting the feelings of all parties involved. I was blessed with so many gestures of love today:

* Ben came home after dropping off Ava at school with a small rose plant
* My mom sent me an email with the perfect balance of mushiness and sincerity to bring a smile to my face and make me feel loved
* Jocelyn, Molly and I spent the morning with the Carlsons, our friends who have adopted us into their family and love us as such
* My neighbor LaTisha brought over a small saran wrapped package of Dove chocolate, just for me
* Ava made a cute Valentine for Ben and I at school, then felt very sorry for us that we didn't get as many Valentines as she did
* Jocie ran into the kitchen with huge blue goggles on, looked at me, hugged on my arm, asked for a kiss, and then scampered off giggling
* Molly let me rock with her longer than usual before bedtime, keeping constant sleepy-eyed contact and smiling ever so slightly

I have no illusions that I will magically melt my icy heart and be an uber-sentimental person. But I looked around today at all the gestures of love, big and small, and realized that while I may not have to speak a word, there are many ways in which I can show my love and appreciation for those around me. I thank all of you who share yourselves with me, and hope I can do better at showing my love for all the incredible people God has placed in my life.

A GOOD Day

Today was just that - a good day. There were hiccups and bumps along the way. No day can be perfect. But after a rough last week or so I end my day more content than I have felt in a while.

I started by helping out with celebrations for the 100th day of school in Ava's classroom. I'll admit, I've been pretty skeptical about this whole celebrating 100 days in school. I mean really, do we not have enough random celebrations throughout the year? But Ava's teacher did a phenomenal job making all the lessons of the day focused on the number 100. The projects I helped with were: making a face of what the kids would look like when they are 100 years old, then writing something about what they would be like when they were 100 (Ava said she would use a cane); handing out a special snack for each child - 1 Vienna Finger cookie and 2 Oreos so they could make the number 100 with their snack; and prepping for a scavenger hunt in which the kids searched for 100 Hershey Kisses hidden all over the classroom. The kids were having a great time, but I saw them learning so much at the same time. I was so glad to get to share some special time with Ava in her class with her and her friends.

Then this evening we went to Ash Wednesday services with our friends the Foleys. I thought we were just attending a Liturgy of the Word service, but it turned out to be an entire Mass. The kids were pretty done by the end, but as I said to Ben we didn't have to remove any of them from the congregation so I considered it a successful experience. As we were leaving a woman came up and complimented both Amanda and I on how well the girls all did. It was so nice of her to take the time to say that to us - every time someone does that it just makes my day. I keep telling myself that when I get older and don't have my own circus to wrangle I am going to be sure to tell other young and probably overwhelmed moms that they are doing a great job.

Finally after Mass we had a very late and rushed dinner. Every bite of spaghetti, salad, and broccoli that was cooked was inhaled. The girls were kind of a mess from having sat in Mass so quietly and just being tired in general. But the adults still managed to have some quality conversation. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends who love us and support us. I am thankful today for all the good; it was a nice day, exactly what my struggling soul needed.

Mold Me

Tonight I am making lemonade out of lemons. Sometimes life is full of obvious blessings that make it easy to love life and all that it holds for us. Other times, we are challenged as a way to bring us back to our roots and re-center ourselves on what is truly important. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, and I cannot think of a better time for God to be challenging me to trust in Him and grow closer to Him. I don't like feeling helpless and out of control, but that doesn't mean I can't do my best to take a less-than-ideal situation and find ways to grow from it. Here's to allowing myself to be molded into a better person, day by day.

Snuggle Night

It was the end of the evening. Dinner had been eaten, pajamas put on the girlies. Calliou came on the television. Jocelyn snuggled up next to Ben, Molly crawled into my lap. Ava came in and laid down, leaning on my shins. And we all sat silently for 20 minutes watching this silly show. Well, everyone else may have been watching; I was savoring the quiet time spent snuggling up and loving on each other. Not a bad way to start a Valentine's week.

Made with Love

It's the weekend before Valentine's Day, which means we were making Valentine's Day cards for the girls' classes at school. I had been all set to buy the standard character cards that you fill in the "to" and "from" and call it a day. But oh, no... these are my children, who don't do things the easy way. They wanted to actually MAKE cards for their friends. Which was fine - we bought foam hearts and other supplies, and this afternoon during quiet time I helped Ava and Jocelyn make their friends' cards. It took a few runs to get a system down, but they had a lot of fun. I am glad that they wanted to take the time to make something - it makes the sentiment of Valentine's Day a little more real. And getting to spend time with my girls was a little gift of love for me as well.

Jocie working on her animal valentines

Ava showing off one of her masterpieces

Video Game Fun

This evening the girls played a new (as of Christmas) Wii game with Ben. I will be the first to admit that I am very NOT a video gamer. Once my 5-year-old brother could beat me at games almost 15 years ago, I gave up and decided my talents are elsewhere. So I have little patience with teaching the kids how to play these games, mainly because I don't really know what to do myself. But Ben has the patience and video game know how to get the girls going. I was upstairs enjoying a few moments to myself listening to the squealing and laughing going on downstairs. The girls were having a blast, and I'm pretty sure their Daddy was, too. It makes me happy to hear my family enjoying themselves... and perfectly content from time to time to not be included in the chaos and noise all that joy brings.

Shoulder to Lean On

Today was not a great day for me. It is not the point of this blog for me to dwell on went wrong, but what was good about my day, so here was my ray of sunshine: Molly fell asleep in the car when we went to pick up Ava from school and take her to dance. Typically, the moment I take Molly out of her car seat and try to transfer her anywhere she immediately wakes up and starts squirming to get down and shake off the sleepiness. This afternoon, I took her out of the car and walked into the dance studio, and Molly stayed passed out on my shoulder for a good 30 minutes. She was dead to the world - girls were yelling and squealing not far away, and adults were talking in the lobby, none of which made her so much as flinch.

As much as she was leaning on my shoulder to sleep, I was leaning on her in those precious moments. There is little better in this world than a snuggly child curled up in my arms. No matter how crappy a day may seem, it cannot compare to the love that shoots out of a child trusting in you to hold them as they sleep. I breathed in her calm and peace, and in that moment was able to forget all my stresses. I focused on my daughter who placed herself literally in my arms and trusted me with her safety and well-being. I may not have had a banner day, but I have this wonderful child who loves me so greatly, and I am forever humbled and thankful for such a gift from God and from her.

Good Morning

We began our day the way we've been starting it most days since Ben has been home in the mornings. Usually Molly wakes up first, babbling happily in her crib just before 7am. Right around 7, we start to hear, "MOMMY, here I am!!" Which is Molly's polite way of asking to be picked up out of her crib. I go in to get her and bring her into the bed with Ben and I and turn on Little Einsteins (or whatever show comes on Disney at 7am). Jocelyn is usually the second one awake and comes in shortly after 7. She squeezes her way into a spot between Ben and Molly and watches the show with us. Finally Ava will saunter in around 7:15 or 7:20, and unfortunately is forced to just find a place near the foot of the bed, as the real estate at the head of the bed is pretty well occupied. When Ben and I first got married I remember having to convince him that even though we are both little people and could fit on a full-sized bed, that one day we would want the extra space of a queen. These days, we find ourselves wishing for a king first thing in the morning as we are nearly pushed off our own bed. But I know these mornings are short lived, and it is by far the best way for me to start my day: with all my favorite people in one place, sharing a few quiet moments in each other's company.

Growing Pains

Ava and I have been spending a lot of time just the two of us the past few days. I don't have a concrete reason as to why, but we have spent most nights reading books to each other, and she manages to find times when I am on my own to just come and keep me company. Today I picked her up from school by myself, and we ran a few errands just the two of us. Most of it was fun things to do - trying to shop for clothes for her and getting some make-up supplies for the upcoming dance season - but I took the opportunity to talk to her about some things. There have been a few situations over the past couple weeks that made me feel I needed to talk to Ava about appropriate behavior, especially around boys. Very basic stuff, mind you - it's no longer really appropriate for her to run around trying to kiss boys' cheeks, she should never be in a room with a boy where the door is closed, she should never see a boy's private parts and vice versa. Again, nothing traumatic has occurred to bring on this conversation (don't want any of you worrying). I think this talk has been so long in coming much because for the longest time Ava pretty well ignored the existence of boys altogether. She would never remember the names of the boys in her preschool class, and at any playgroup she would immediately gravitate to the girls playing dress up or dolls. She had nothing in common with boys, so they were of no importance to her. Now, thanks to carpooling with our male neighbors and having formed some good friendships with boys, it seemed important that Ava know what her boundaries should be. It was a good talk - she was very receptive, engaged in the conversation with questions and comments. It was one of those times when I looked at my oldest daughter and was blown away by how grown up she is. I was reminded of when she was only 1-year-old and Ben was on deployment, and we hung out and talked together all the time. Our conversations were much different then than they are now. Time really seems to fly, and while a small part of me is sad Ava is no longer that innocent, naive baby, a much bigger part of me is so proud of the young woman she is becoming. I hope this is the first of many more good talks we share together.

Proud Momma

This morning I was trying to convince Molly she should get dressed. She didn't really want to get out of her pajamas... until she saw my old Jerry Rice jersey. I had pulled it out for the Super Bowl and let Jocelyn run around it as a dress and hadn't put it away yet. Molly grabbed it and decided that was her outfit of choice. Okay, fine. I threw on a pair of her leggings and the jersey and she was good to go. The kicker, however, was when I asked to take a picture of her, instead of saying "cheese!" my intelligent daughter shouted "Gig 'Em!!"

As you can see from the picture, this jersey is a TAD big - as soon as Molly's arms came down the collar fell off of her shoulders. Fortunately, I found a kid's size A&M jersey which served to not only make for a happier Molly but also made the "Gig 'Em" at picture time make much more sense.

I'm not sure who was happier, this jersey-wearing munchkin or her Momma for having a two-year-old who not only loves wearing football gear but has excellent taste in teams to root for.

So as not to neglect my other children, a close second highlight to the day was getting to watch Ava in her music class this afternoon. Parents were invited in to see the kids perform several of the songs they have learned throughout the year. They sang anything from My Country 'Tis of Thee to the Wheels on the Bus. Ava's favorite, and quite possibly mine as well, was the kids doing the Macarena. It was a throwback that was equally entertaining and terrifying. I leave you with this video so that you too may be left singing this ridiculously catchy song for days to come.

Trendsetter

This evening Molly embraced her inner Girl and accessorized:

I mean really, how does this face not totally make your day? It certainly made mine.

Super Bowl Sunday

Yes, today was the Super Bowl. Yes, I watched most of the game, paid slightly more attention than I would normally to the commercials, and paused halftime so I could put the girls to bed and not miss Beyonce. (Maybe should have thought twice about that last part.) My favorite part of the night, however: we watched the first half of the game down at our neighbors' house. The kids ran around and played while we watched the game. When we left to walk back home, Ava charged ahead of the pack, while Jocelyn and Ben were a few yards behind her, and Molly and I brought up the rear. Jocelyn had begun to yell and cry for Ava to slow down. Molly apparently found this humorous, and looked at me with a big dopey grin and started yelling, "Sister, wait! Daddy, wait!" and doing her little 2-year-old version of running after them. So Molly and I made a game of walking home: we would stand still, then yell wait and start to run toward the house. I kept looking down at this child, wearing her bright patterned snow jacket over a dress, floral tights and mary jane shoes (she is very into dressing herself these days), giggling and laughing while her thin little hair blew as she ran along. I felt such joy and love for this special little person and the time we were sharing. Those five minutes walking home were far more entertaining than any silly football game or commercial - and much more memorable, too.

Sisters...

Today was a day full of sisterly love. And by sisterly love I mean the constant pendulum swing from being the best of friends to hardly being able to stand the sight of each other. I was doing something upstairs this morning, and quite literally in the span of at most 3 minutes I heard Ava ask Jocie lovingly to play something, then get annoyed and growl at Jocelyn, then Jocelyn do something silly that made Ava laugh, followed by Jocelyn getting mad about something and yelling at Ava, then both girls laughing at each other again. It hurts my head to try and keep up with whether these kids are BFFs of at each other's throats. I am thankful that every spat or rough patch is very short lived, and that these girls love each other and play well together much more than they fight. And really, I had better get used to the craziness of these sisterly bonds, for I am sure they will only get more complicated as these daughters of mine get older.

Costume Party

Today was Ava's Christmas in her dance world. She got to try on costumes for three of her dances for the upcoming year. I don't know if it changes as they get older, but these little girls were SO crazy excited to try on their costumes. It was fun watching them look at themselves in the mirror, swishing their skirts, making faces, and testing out their dance moves in their new outfits. The costumes were cute, and the girls wearing them even cuter. I was glad to be a part of Ava's glorified dress-up time. It certainly added a little glamour to my day.

Ava's jazz costume

Musical Theatre costume

The quartet, or "fourtet"

Oh, and I would also like to add that I have put the TAMEST photos of each costume to be able to see the costume best. My kid is certainly the ham, and was having lots of fun testing out her best poses for the camera...