Springtime!

Warmer weather and longer days certainly make things easier around here!  We've been outside the majority of the time.  Olivia loves going to feed the ducks:

Paige likes the ducks, too.  These particular ducks are pretty brave and get very close.  There's one duck that is particularly aggressive and will hiss at the other ducks to get the bread.   Here's Olivia "fussing" at him:

We also hit the park a few days a week:

But we mostly just enjoy playing outside at home:

Last week in gymnastics, they worked on back handsprings.  They have been prepping for them for several weeks, but it was the first time the coach spotted them on an actual back handspring.  Olivia decided that she wanted to work on them at home.  I bet I spotted her on 300 back handsprings, but lo and behold...



















I am so proud of her!  She is very determined.  Of course, Paige had to "flip" as well. 

Paige is really coming into her personality.

She can be very girly.  As in bringing me a tutu to put on her:

But also loves to get dirty.  Here she is playing in the dirt behind the hedge in front of our house.  In a dress:

She is also sleeping by herself in her crib for at least 5 hours a night.  Hallelujah! 

We spent the weekend in Nashville with Daddy.  Yesterday was a beautiful day for the zoo:

My monkey's in front of the monkeys.  The Nashville Zoo is really nice! 
Olivia's face after looking at a snake:

Hard to see, but here is Paige eye to eye with a  baby crocodile:

Checking out the elephants:

This was our view of Olivia most of the day:

Walking slightly ahead with the map.  Cracks me up!  Paige spent about half her time in the stroller and the other half insisting on walking by herself (at a snail's pace):

There's a really neat dinosaur exhibit.  They are all animatronic, so they move around and make noise.

A little afraid of T-Rex:

There is a HUGE playground at the zoo called the Jungle Gym. 

Livi on a zip line:

Next we headed to the kangaroos.  This part was awesome!  There is a paved walkway in with the kangaroos.  You are allowed to walk right through their area.  You can pet them if they get close to you.  Here's one snoozing behind Olivia:

The kangaroos weren't the only ones snoozing:

Our last stop was the flamingos.   They were so pretty:

I see a zoo membership in our future...

Single parenting

Props to all the single parents and military spouses out there.  It is HARD!  And we're only on day 9.  Michael started his new job March 25th, so we borrowed Papaw's truck, hitched up the trailer, and moved him there the prior weekend.  We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies rolling up:

It's not necessarily the parenting that's hard- it's the being alone at night when the kids are in bed.  I adore my girls, but sometimes an adult conversation is nice!  Michael definitely has the harder end of this deal, though.  He's in a new city, with a new job, in a little apartment by himself. 

We've been keeping busy on our own.  Olivia is really into doing "experiments" right now.   This one we filled 2 glasses with water, and put a paper towel draped in all 3.  We added blue food coloring to one and yellow to the other. 

The next day:

Paige was interested, too:

We were pretty excited to play outside last week, even though it was still a little chilly:

 

We visited Daddy in Nashville last weekend.  It was rainy Saturday, so we went to the Adventure Science Center, which is a hands on science museum for kids.  Everyone in Nashville had the same idea, as it was pretty crowded.  It was fun, though!  Michael helped the girls build this arch and this was the picture I got:

There was a "tinkering" exhibit that was pretty neat.  Everyone had to wear safety goggles.  I do mean everyone:

The next day was beautiful and we found a great park within walking distance of the apartment:

We sadly left Daddy and headed back for school.  Luckily, it is supposed to be beautiful this week, which means lots of time to play outside!

I'll leave you with a funny video:

Ch-ch-ch-changes....

The first weekend in March, we flew to Houston.  Random, right?  It was Paige's first flight:

We drove to Nashville the night before and caught a direct flight, so it was only 2 hours.  She did pretty well, but much longer and it probably would have gotten bad!  Having her own seat helped.  Olivia was VERY excited, the last time she flew was when we moved here from Denver.  Funny what she remembered, though.  She asked if we would get peanuts on this flight, ha!

When we landed in Houston, it was 80 degrees.  80 degrees on March 1st!  Unfortunately, it didn't last long, as an ice storm hit the next night and it got down to 28.  Just our luck!  We did some fun things:

Visited the Rainforest Cafe:

Olivia asked to climb a rock wall in the outlet mall.  We let her try and she did great!  Especially considering she was wearing Crocs:

We visited Jump Street (an indoor trampoline park):

And convinced Daddy to ride the mechanical bull (hey, we were in Texas!):

We were in Houston to check out the area, as Michael had a job offer there.  The area west of Houston is really nice.  It is also really big and really far from our family.  

So, we were happy that he got a job offer in Nashville!  

Which means we are moving (again)!  The house is on the market and we went to Nashville last weekend to find Michael an apartment, since he starts the end of this month.  The girls and I will join him when school is out.  Hopefully!  The house needs to sell first.

We did manage to hit the indoor pool at our hotel in Nashville:

That picture was taken mid-cry for Paige.  She was ready to go!  She has also finally decided walking is the way to go:

Thank goodness!  More to come as we get ready to move!

Spirit Week!

Olivia's school had Spirit Week and she really got into dressing up for the different days!  She dressed up like Minnie Mouse for character day (no picture of that one!).  Tuesday was spirit day, so she wore her RCA shirt.

Then there was Wacky Wednesday:

Thursday was Twin Day and she and her BFF, Lexi, just so happened to have the same outfit:

Friday was decade day.  We went with the 80's:

Silly girl.  So thankful she enjoys school!

Paige is still halfway walking.  As in, she'll take several steps, then decide crawling is much faster.  I ordered her some squeaky shoes, hoping it would encourage her.  This is what happened:

She figured out how to make them squeak when she crawls.  Sigh.  I'm ready for this baby to walk!

Snow day, take 2

We got hit with the "big" snowstorm (along with the majority of the eastern half of the country)!  It was very pretty, until our power went out.  We were without power around 17 hours, which wasn't too bad, considering some people in our county are still without it.  Luckily, we have a fireplace downstairs, so were able to keep warm.  Daddy and Olivia were very excited to go sledding:

Paige and I watched, since she doesn't have correct clothing for being in the snow:

I grabbed a bowl of snow, so Paige could play:

She mostly enjoyed eating it:

Our neighbors got out their tractor and scooped up a bunch of snow to make a huge snowman:

Olivia was on a 2 hour delay for school today, which means she was only there for 3 hours.  So, Paige and I decided to go along and help with her Valentine party.  I posed the girls before we left:

And, I can't help it- Paige at 14 months:

Olivia at 18 months:

Cuties!  Happy Valentine's Day!

School pictures and the Olympics!

Lots of video's ahead!  Olivia had school pictures this week:

Our friend from church that took our family pictures made them, so I'm sure they'll be great!  I love this one she took for us:

Her gymnastics had a Winter Olympics last Saturday.  It was really cute!  She insisted on wearing her red, white, and blue leotard:

They divided into 4 groups and we got to follow them around to each event.  Paige was a handful, as usual.  Olivia's group finished the bars and were waiting to move to the beam when Paige decided she needed to get to the bars:

Michael let her get in the pit during the beam routines.  See her head sticking up?

Olivia on the beam (her least favorite):

And her floor routine:

She was so proud of her trophy:

And if anyone wants to see her events, I videoed all of them.  Ha!  They're about a minute each.

Vault:

Bars:

Beam:

Floor:

It was a fun day!

This little nugget:

can walk, but just doesn't want to.  And yes, her hair is crazy.  Sometimes it looks really curly and sometimes it's just wavy, but it is always crazy.  I try to put the top half in a ponytail most days.  I don't know what to do with it!  I was folding laundry a few days ago when I watched (in disbelief) as she stood up and walked about 12 steps unassisted.  She hasn't done it again.  She can crawl like a mad woman, though!

My argument for her being able to walk is in this video:

Really, Paige?  You can stand up and dance, but not walk?  Mommy's not falling for that anymore...I know it's a ploy to get carried everywhere (and it works!).