fun birthday parties

Abby turned 3!

(on sep 8, but whatever!)

she had a cute pirate party.

they played red light, green light, but i'm not sure that any of them really knew what was going on. :)

we just happened to have a pirate dress, and since addie didn't want to wear it, i made frankie. 

she loved walking the plank!

all the kids did! it was really cute.

they love eachother!

and frankie loves sarah.

(playing peek-a-boo)

for days we talked about gold doubloons, treasures, and pirate talk.
so fun!

izzy finally turned 3 too! she had a whimsical princess party that was so cute. we got there early to help and gabby, izzy's babysitter, put make-up on both the girls. they were soooo excited!

love the way addie is holding her hand! she's just trying to keep her ring on, but it totally looks princess-esque!

franks doesn't always love hanging out with the 3-year-old crowd.
she often gets manhandled by addie and her well meaning friends.
(okay sometimes they ((including addie!)) are not so well meaning!)

some real princesses showed up to the party and taught the girls how to sit and wave like princesses.

 and then pictures of course!

they practiced walking with poise.

and then some light hors d'oeuvres.

we love birthdays! so cute and fun!

110 down, 43 to go!

i thought it would be super easy to beat my yearly blogging record of 152 blog posts in 2010.

and then i fell off the wagon a few dozen times.

and then this week i realized that if i don't get on the ball, i won't!

and, the bigger issue, i want to remember these happy days. 

(but beating my blog record would be nice too.;)

raider nation!!!

the night of the fair was also raider nation's 2nd home game and happened to be the first football game that i remembered to bring my camera to.

the girls were doing a fundraiser for the military so they each had marine's t-shirts on instead of their cheer tops.

every time the raiders get a touchdown, the cheerleaders do as many push-ups as their score is.

sadly, they don't have to do many push-ups.

BUT, this game they did!

l-town actually won!!!

they even got one more touchdown after i took this picture!

it was pretty awesome. 

cuuuuute!

can you spy my lexi-lu?

she's at the middle top.

leonardtown high school got a new principal this year and she's pretty rad.

her first message home, she was so enthusiastic and she started the message by saying "this is the new principal of the RAIDER NATION!!!" and it's really stuck. at first it was just making fun (for me at least) but i think it's cute now. and at the game they chant stuff about raider nation. i love that she's so big on school spirit and involvement! she's been at every game, decked out in all her raider gear. she's given me the drive to finally make my "cheer mom" t-shirt that i've wanted to make for a few years now. even though lexi swears she'll die. i'm doing it!

aaand one cheer video, for good measure.

county fair 2011

fair time was a few weeks ago.

i'm conflicted on the fair. half of me loves it and the other half loathes it.

and the fair is situated right across the street from the middle and high school, so there's really no way around it. this year we talked to big kids about the fair and $$$ early in the week to give them plenty of time to earn money to go. neither went the 'earn additional on top of your allowance' route, but they both managed to pull their whole amount.

we looked at schedules and weather forecasts and found the best day to go would be thurs, opening night. and so we went. it worked pretty well because that was the night that christian and co wanted to go too. it's good to have a presence there, ifyouknowwhatimean.

we got there before the rides started, so i walked the girls around the animals.

despite her face, she really loved it. poor girl, she loves animals!

(poor girl because mommy and daddy are not pet people)

addie kind of hated it, but wanted to keep going back to the turkeys. then she would just stand there and fold her arms, like she was analyzing their behavior for a science experiment.

as soon as we walked by the door addie made a beeline and she really didn't want to come back in.

since it was pretty smelly, i finally relented.

we met up with izzy and co. (by chance) and this was the girls first ride.

goofball.

terrified ball.

"mom!"

i was a little bit afraid that she would try to stand up and jump out, but she didn't. she just held on for dear life and turned to stare at me sadly as she went around.

here's how she enjoyed the next few rides.

it's really hard to get a good picture of these two!

frankie was much happier as soon as this guy showed up! we decided to divide and conquer (the story of our lives lately!) with matt taking frankie back to see the animals and exhibits, and me staying with the big girls for rides.

:)

i wasn't about to get on the carousel, but the big girls really wanted to ride it, so we waited for the last ride of the night. then they rode it 3 times.

and for this year we got our fill of cotton candy, fried corn dogs, cheese fries, and awesome fair people.

ifyouknowwhatimean.

gymnastics, again again

frankie-franks started gymnastics!

(3 weeks ago, but whatever)

she loooooooooooooves it!

she's been going with big sister since she was first born, and most of the coaches have let her play on the equipment, but now she actually gets to be in the class and it is so cute!

warming up.
and she actually participates, unlike addie. frankie stretches and straddles and tickles her toes.

so, so fun!

just look at that concentration.

hanging out on the trampoline. she loves it.

she never stops running!

playing on the floor beam. or i guess, with the floor beam.

she loves the bars!!!

monkey girl.

whoa!

(she caught herself)

here's how addie rolls while we are in frankie's class. i caught her across the room dancing all sassy-like in her new leotard. whenever she sees me looking, she shouts "it's my turn?" and i tell her "not yet!" and then after about 5 minutes we repeat that convo.

one of the moms saw me trying to balance frankie and take pictures, so she offered to take one for me. 

that was nice. :)

and during her 3rd class, she finally swung!

big girl!

she loves to spin in this saucer thingy.

frankie's class ends at 11:15 and addie's starts at 11:30 so it works perfectly.

and addie's in class all.by.herself! for the first time! she's doing sooo good!

it's hard to take pictures because we have to stay outside the gym and behind the glass.

very careful lady.

yes, they were supposed to crawl here.

just look at her following directions!

couldn't quite do this skill.... she was supposed to be moving across the bar, hand over hand, but instead she just kind of hung there till she fell off. and then did that again. maybe next week. :)

aaaand the stamps at the end.

hands, thighs, knees, feet, and if your gymnastics ensemble allows for it, tummy.

we love gymnastics. even for me, it's 2 hours of non-stop smiling.

but addie's pushing for a dance class next time.

someone (whose name starts with 'm' and ends with 't') might be influencing that decision.

we shall see for next session, but for now i love little girls in leotards!

(and, free with my pampers points, i ordered legwarmers! can't wait to see chubby franks in legwarmers and a leotard. cuuuute!)