Words from Piper

I am the worst about writing down funny things my kids say!  And, like every other parent, I think my kids say some pretty hilarious things!  Briggs is really beginning to express his opinion and emotions clearly.  And it makes me happy because he can communicate better but at the same time sad because that means he's out of the baby stage! Piper has always been spunky and said "mature" things at times.  But recently I look at and listen to her and see this little girl who has grown so much!  Not so much while she's throwing a crying fit, but all the other times!

So this weekend she rode her bike a lot with Michael!  She still is too nervous to remove the training wheels but she made progress in that she went down the big hill on our street without getting off her bicycle and walking!  This is huge!  When she came home she ran into the bathroom where I was preparing the bath and said, "Mom, I went down the big hill!!  I didn't stop.  Daddy only helped me once!  Oh, I just love being a kid.  I don't want to stop being a kid because it is just so much fun! I don't want to waste my time watching TV so I'm not watching it anymore.  Being a kid is so much fun that I don't need to waste it watching TV.  I'm going to play outside and do fun stuff.  Ya!"  She spoke so fast and so excitedly that I couldn't help but giggle and smile a lot!  That was on Friday.  By Sunday morning she came to me as we were getting ready for church and said (very seriously) "Mom. You know that thing about not watching anymore TV?  I'd like to stop that.  Can I please watch Sophia the First?"  Haha!!  She makes me smile!  

A few days before that, I was fixing her hair before we left for open house and we have the following conversation:

P-"Jake told me he had a crush on me today."

Me-"Oh.  What did you say to Jake?"

P- "I said, Oh.  I love someone else."  (Insert big mom eyes right now!!!!)

Me-"Who do you love?"

P-"Logan."  (Logan is a family friend and another kindergartner)

Me-"What did Jake say?"

P- "I don't know!"

Me-"Doesn't Nora like Logan?  Are you just liking the boys Nora likes?"  (Nora is one of Piper's friends.)

P-"No!  Nora love JD!"  

Then I preceded to calmly remind her that she doesn't need to be 'in love' with anyone at this age except for Daddy, Mommy, and Briggs but that having friends that are boys is just fine.  She said something about how everyone has boyfriends right now and I told her she was too young for a boyfriend and that was just silly.  Michael also talked to her and told her how pretty and sweet she was.  No wonder a boy would like her but she's too young right now to love anyone else but her daddy!  

Oh this girl!!...

Sleepy Head!

Little stinker that won't nap in his bed anymore!  But he is pretty adorable!

Week in Review

This week has been full of fun things!  My sister's family came for a few days to visit while they are on spring break.  I took Piper out of school one day to play hooky!  The first afternoon we explored the woods in our neighborhood!  Someone has rigged up a tree swing that is fun and there are tons of trees to climb and crawl on!  I don't think I'll be exploring the woods too much more because the snakes will be making their debut soon I'm sure.  Shivers!  I hate snakes!

Piper learned how to blow a bubble with her gum while they were here!  Such excitement going on around here!

Best buds in deep lunchtime conversation!

Where is the boy??  Briggs sleeps with a million stuffed animals around him each night!  It's more than his little twin bed can handle!  He's been exhausted from traveling and having visitors!  I do not mind it a bit because he's sleeping later!!

This is Piper's "When I am 100 years old" activity from the 100th day of school.  It was highlighted on the wall at open house this week.  She wrote "When I am 100 years old I will sweep, be an artist, have a husband, read the books, be a grandma!"  What an impressive and ambitious centurion!

Briggs and his buddy Asher!  Briggs wouldn't look at me but Asher was happy to oblige for the camera! Briggs refers to Asher as "My Asher"!

 And this is an old picture from November or December of Briggs that I just came across!  It makes me smile!

Spring Break~Day 3

The last morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast followed by packing up our belongings and heading back to downtown San Antonio!  We visited the Alamo, but did not go inside.  The kids were not ready to soak in all that history just yet!  We had a picture fiasco in front of the six flags involving a fight over who got to climb the stone thingy! I am so history poor that I did not know about Texas' six flags until last year. Hence, Six Flags over Texas! That was an ah-ha moment for me!  Go ahead roll your eyes and laugh!  After the Alamo, we went back to the RirverWalk area to ride the little tour boat.  Both kids enjoyed riding in the boat but neither cared about anything the guide was saying.  Most of the morning Briggs kept saying, "let's go ride the boat!" Like we had forgotten about this activity! We finished off with a yummy mexican lunch on the RiverWalk and headed to the car for the long ride home.  As we were getting onto the highway, I asked Piper what her favorite thing about vacation was and she said, "I don't know.  I liked a lot of stuff.  But I'm ready to be home."  And she promptly closed her eyes and fell asleep in less than five minutes.  She slept about 2 1/2 hours!  Girlfriend was tired!  Briggs was ready to be home also.  I think he said "Let's go home." at least ten times on the trip!  But both kids went with the flow for the most part and enjoyed it!  It was a much better experience than the last family vacation at the beach! Michael was even talking about flying somewhere with them next if that tells you anything!  Whoa!  The remainder of spring break was spent relaxing at home, playing with friends, and just being off of a schedule!  So nice!!

Spring Break~Part 2

On the second day of vacation we spent the majority of our time at Sea World!  Briggs kept talking to us about seeing the sea lions.  He'd say, "We see the sea lions.  They roar."  He has an obsession with lions and tigers right now so trying to explain to him that their is an animal in the sea that looks nothing like a lion and does not sound like a lion is nearly impossible!  It was very sunny that day but pretty chilly because of the wind.  We braved the elements with our hoods on!

First on the agenda was watching the Shamu show, which is really called "One World!"  There are five whales, one is a baby and none are really named Shamu!  I'd like to know how long ago the real Shamu bit the dust!  Both kids clapped and awed over the whales amazing tricks!  It was a cool show to watch.  How someone had the thought, "Let's try to train these huge creatures" is beyond my realm of thought!

After the show, we grabbed some lunch and let the kids play on a tree!  Because that is why everyone visits Sea World, right??

The next show we attended was a Beluga whale show.  I don't remember the real title of this show.  But there were beluga whales, dolphins, acrobatics, and birds!  It was Sea World's version of Cirque de Soleil I think!  I loved Piper's reactions to the amazing tricks!  Briggs liked it but was more interested in acting crazy! He needed to burn some energy!

Dolphins

Look closely.  The trainer is riding on the beluga's nose!

We headed back to the Shamu show area because we had an arrangement to meet with a whale trainer and ask questions and take pictures up close with the whales.  Thanks to Grandpa who had the connections!! Piper asked a lot of questions and felt so confident and proud to be asking them!  We kept encouraging her to think of more.  

We saw the sea lions (which excited Briggs), peguins, and a few other things before deciding to see what rides Piper could ride because she kept asking to ride the rides, play more games, and buy something!  She wanted to ride this huge roller coaster but ended up being only an inch or two too short.  She was so disappointed.  But Michael and I, who are not too fond of roller coasters, were secretly thankful!!  So, I agreed to ride on this white rapids water ride with her.  Remember, it was chilly and I do not like getting splashed but I tried really hard to enjoy myself and have fun because we were making memories here!  I think Piper got a little more wet than me, but she had a big smile on her face the entire time and loved, loved it!  I think she would have ridden it over and over again if I would have agreed!  We have an adventurous girl on our hands I think!!  

Sea World was great!  There were many things we didn't even see and in the warmer months, even more rides to ride!  So, we'll definitely have to revisit sometime in the future!

Spring Break 2014~Part 1

We drove to San Antonio for a little vacation this spring break.  We have not 'vacationed' with the kids since I was 7 months pregnant with Briggs.  Piper had such a miserable time on that trip that we vowed to not vacation with the kids again until Piper turned 5!  And, we pretty much stuck to that vow seeing that she'll be 6 years old next month!  Ha!  We swam at the hotel, visited Sea World for an entire day, relaxed, and enjoyed the RiverWalk/downtown area.  Piper was so excited about going on vacation, staying at a hotel, and buying stuff!  She kept asking if we could "buy stuff" when we go to "San Antonia!"  Her words!

 I love his smile!  It's rare that I get to capture it!!  The first day, we drove to San Antonio, stopping once to eat in Waco at Uncle Dan's bbq.  I found it on TripAdvisor and I probably would not recommend it but Uncle Dan himself greeted us and gave the kids free t-shirts when he found out we were out of town city folk from Dallas!  If he only knew he was talking to a cuuuntry girl!  Can't fault a man for trying.  One employee told me they had the best ribs in Texas and she said "I'm not just saying that because I work here."  Usually I'm not a sucker for such flattery but she had me, hook-line-and sinker!  My friends, they were not the best ribs in Texas!  But they were friendly folk.  Moving on...Once we arrived at San Antonio or Antonia, if you're talking to Piper, we settled into our hotel room and the kids played for a bit.  Piper was super amused by the door peep hole that was just at her level!  After playing, the kids swam in the indoor pool and we tried to swim in the outdoor pool but it was just too cold.  I did manage to try and save Briggs in the kiddie pool because he slipped and fell and I thought he hit his head.  But, when I stepped into the kiddie pool, I slipped on the same nasty slime he must have slipped on and hurt my hand and knee.  When I tried to stand up, I slipped again, only to land on my chin!  It hurt! But as I type this I'm giggling.  Michael has a pretty funny impression of my flopping around like a big fish in the kiddie pool.  Briggs and I survived but not without a few battle wounds...and some laughs!  They really must clean that pool soon!  After swimming, we cleaned up and headed downtown to ride on the river boat and eat.  However, by the time we sat down to eat it was dark so we didn't end up riding the boat that night.  The kids loved it and were excited! Briggs did say a few times, "Let's go home."  But he never whined about being home.  He was just tired!  And so was Piper!

School Festivities and A Little Silliness!

 Piper had Kindergarten Career Day.  She chose to be a dentist and had to give a short presentation in front of her classmates about what a dentist does.  We prepared by reading a book about dentists and practicing what she could say plus they did a few things in class to prepare.  On the way to school that day she said, "I really don't want to be a dentist.  I want to be a soccer coach."  My reply, "That's great but today you have to pretend to be a dentist!  We are not changing now!"  It was hard to find a costume for her!  I wanted to locate a free lab coat but was unsuccessful!  The scrubs from my neighbor were perfect though!

 Her class also celebrated the 100th day of school!  Above she is decorating a 100 year old lady!  And below she is stringing 100 fruit loops on a string.

 Piper was posing for me at her Aunt Sheryl's house!  Silly girl.  We visited them on the first weekend of spring break.  I had a baby shower to attend in OKC so it worked out perfectly!

Briggs loved snuggling with his cousin Seth! And I think Seth enjoyed it just as much!! (13 years and 3 years)

Piper's class celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday!  Piper is in the very back next to her teacher!

 Another fun kindergarten festivity was to dress up in superhero shirts one Friday to celebrate being super readers...or something along those lines!  Half the time, I cannot seem to keep up with all this stuff!  My friend Kate found Superman shirts on sale at Old Navy for our girls in the boys department!  They'll fit the boys in a few years! Briggs already had his Superman shirt!  This is the best smile I can get lately!

Piper's entire class as superhero's!  Piper is in the very back and to the right.  Look for the red bow!

Piper and her cutie pie friend Nora.

And lastly, my parents sent both kids gift cards to Walmart for Valentine's Day.  We just went last week to spend them.  Briggs picked out a big dump truck and has loved every minute of it!  And, Piper picked the fake American Girl wheelchair, crutches, and cast set!  She has been pining over the real American Girl wheelchair out of the catalog for months and I've told her no over and over because it's $40 which I think is ridiculous!  So when her eyes came upon this box she went crazy ga-ga because it was in her price range. The heavens parted and the angels sang because she had found her wheelchair!  Haha!  So funny!  She has loved playing with it!  Maybe this is evidence she'll be a great caretaker when I'm 90!  A mom can only hope!