Haircuts and Sight Words

Yesterday was haircut day for the girls.  They were very overdue.  I know we do haircuts more than some parents of girls, but with their short cuts, they really start to look scraggly when it gets grown out.  The girls got to choose how much they wanted to trim off, and they both trimmed it back up to chin length.  I think they feel like new ladies today!

This morning, Lily and I are just hanging out.  Thursdays seem to be the one morning of the week that we regularly get to take it easy.  I look forward to it.  Today she is playing with her "Sight Word Flashcards."  I bought them a week or two ago because she was starting to get really interested.  As usual, she surprised me on how many she just knew all on her own.

Here is a stack of them that she says she knows with no practice this morning... 22 of them (then she counted them).  I still don't know how she picks it all up.  Kids are sponges.  Proof that lots of reading is effective, I guess.  :)  Read to your kids!

A Whirlwind Weekend and Beautiful Annie

We had a crazy, whirlwind weekend.  Abby had a gymnastics meet on Saturday at our home gym.  Because it was our home meet, we had to work a session.  I worked as floor timer during the same session that Abby competed so I got to be close to the action.  The team stretched right next to me, so I snuck in some pictures.  (Her team is the one with the white jackets and dark pants with TGC on them.)  Abby is the one in the front row on the far right (she has pigtails with one pink ribbon and one blue).

After the meet was over, we grabbed lunch or breakfast at Cracker Barrel (half of us had lunch, half breakfast).  Then, in the car for 3 hours to see our brand new family addition!  We went straight to the hospital to see my sister and new niece, Annabelle Jane, or Annie.

I took the chance while i was there to get her out of her hospital issued shirt and make her girlie.  She is adorable.  I could just eat her up.  It's a good thing I only have to wait until Thanksgiving to see her again.  The girls LOVED her.

On Sunday, we raced home, with me on Twitter following storm coverage the whole drive with the crazy Midwest storms.  Scary.  Here is one shot at the edge of the line.  Sun on one side and storms on the other.  Luckily the worst of the storm missed our area of the county.  Many prayers for those it did not.

Leaves, leaves, leaves

As I type this, Matt is in the back yard, tackling the fall leaves back there.  We teamed up in the front, and then I had to head in to feed Lily lunch.  After I finish the blog, I'm about to head back out.  

I think we are the last on the cul-de-sac to get to it.  With Matt being out of town for over a week, and our travel out of town 2 weekends ago, we just haven't had time.  This is our first year with leaves like this.  This is definitely the disadvantage of the big trees!  The only good part of getting to it so late is that most of the trees are done dropping leaves, so our work should last.

This picture is from last weekend, but the background gives you an idea of the back yard's leaves.  Totally covered.  You can't see the grass at all.

Here is the from, after we started today.  Matt was blowing the leaves out of the flower beds and I was raking.  We were surprised how many bags we filled in the front, and it wasn't even very bad!  I'm jealous of communities that can just rake them out to the curb and they come get them.  We have to bag them, and it's a lot more work.  In our city, you can put up to 40 bags a week out during November and this week some of our neighbors had a lot.  I'll be curious how many we get.

Well, I starting to feel guilty, so I better get out there to help....  :)

UPDATED TO ADD:  I helped for about 35 minutes and now we're out of bags so we had to stop.  So close to begin done, and yet, not.  

Checking in

So the problem with taking a break from blogging is that it is always awkward when you finally come back to it.  What will be your first blog entry back?  Ah, the pressure!  There are times where you think, "I should blog that, and then you think, eh, that's not worth it."

So, here we are.  How about a catch up?  Here are some of our big moments and/or favorite pictures from my last check in....

Abby received her third grade Bible at church.  A very big deal.

A crisp morning at the bus stop.  I love this picture.

Lily has entered that magical stage where she is very into numbers and letters.  She can count to 100 and knows a few sight words.  She is a sneaky learner.  She surprises me every day with stuff she knows.

Abby came in second at her first meet of the season.  She is growing and doing so well this season.  She has a meet this coming Saturday.  I'm sure she'll do great again!

Another favorite picture of the girls with family friends.  Crazy kids.

Lily and cousin Bella playing in the cul-de-sac.  They had so much fun with each other during this visit.

My besties Lisa, Ann, and me.

The evidence left by one phone stealer.

Our first corn maze was a super fun success!

Lily always "thought" she knew the right way.

Trick or Treat at a special event at our local high school.  It was lucky we went because our Trick or Treat got stormed out.  :(

Lily listening to tunes in the car line at preschool.  I swear I didn't turn it up too loud.

Fall leaves!

Little sisters, I tell you.  I sent this to mine and told her they were always a problem.

Believe it or now, snow today.  Bleck.  But the girls loved it.