Happy New Year!

Feel the Rhythm, Feel the Rhyme

With weather this nice, it's SLEDDING time. (You want to watch Cool Runnings now, you know it!)

The last two days are why God made winter. What a delight! And what a delight to be able to be home with the girls and enjoy it! As we looked ahead to the cold weather that is already making the temps drop, we spent as much time as we could outside the last couple days. Soaking in the sun and the winter fun.

Fiona became a sled master last winter (head first, baby!) and couldn't wait to hit the slopes yesterday. We have a perfect little hill just a couple blocks from our house, down into the junior high football field. Quinn took a [very needed] long nap yesterday, so I sent the two bigs to the hill and Q, Yogi, and I met them a bit later.

As with everything, Quinny took a while to warm up to a new experience. She didn't cry her first time down with Daddy, but she didn't smile. By the end of the day, she was asking for "more." Today, she got super brave and even went down a few times by herself (head first, baby!). We also finally finished the snowman in our yard today. He is perfectly Buggy size. We finished the day with a cup of cocoa and marshmallows.

We'll take more of these days ... please!

Haircuts

We finally decided today that clearly Quinn's hair was not going to grow out and back. It was going to stay in her face and make her look like a Beatle. When she entertained Bugs this morning by shaking her shaggy head, it became clear it was time for a haircut.

Bugs and I have been struggling after bath to comb all the tangles out of her long long curls. So we decided as long as we were heading to Great Clips, we'd make it a two for!

Both girls were really nervous. Bugs was convinced it would hurt (it did not) and Q just hates strangers touching her (see Santa picture for reference). So they were lined up so Bugs could see me and I kept my hand on Q's leg. She was okay as long as the stylist did not put the cape on her. That was unacceptable. Bugs perked up once a "good job" sucker appeared.

Fiona's hair is just a bit shorter, but is even (!) and layered so those curls really pop. Quinn's is even and it frames her face. She's still shaggy (I really don't want to cut bangs if we can avoid it) but doesn't look like a Beatle anymore. Just in time for a Christmas picture where they both look at the camera at the same time ... maybe ...

The Things You Overhear

Just a few of the things we've overheard in the past few days:

Quinn has "the pink eye."
So Fiona asked, "Mommy, if Quinny has pink eyes, why are they still blue?"

From the bathroom last night:
M: Wow, Bugs. That's a messy diaper.
F: Yeah, lots of poopies.
M: Oooops. Uh oh. We need to clean the wall too before Mom comes in here.

From the dinner table:
F: Mom, does my milk have my poop medicine in it?

While playing Memory:
S: Bugs, you only get to turn two cards over during your turn.
F: But I can't member where the hot dog is. So I have to turn over more.
S: That's why it's called Memory. Because you have to remember.
F: No, Mom. That's not it.

Killing time while Bugs went potty:
S: Bugs, what's your big name?
F: Fiona Grace.
S: Good job. What's Quinny's big name?
F: Quinny Bot.
S: No. What's Quinn's real big name?
F: Quinn Bota Bota Boo.
S: I think it's Quinn Scarlett.
F: Oh Mom.

So Big!

New chair

 We didn't approve it, but the girls continue their quest to grow up. They are getting so big!

This morning, the girls (mostly Fiona) helped me turn over Q's dresser drawer. A couple weeks ago, it was officially time for Quinn to graduate to 18 month clothes (you know, since she is 16 months tomorrow ... the fact that I got an extra 4 months out the 12 month clothes is awesome!). But that bin was in the rafters of the garage. And it's been awfully cold! So to push her procrastinating parents, Q hit the mother of growth spurts! And those 12 month pants have become capris ... and a lot of leg was showing. We celebrated today by wearing pants that were long enough AND a shirt with sleeves long enough.

Disney!

Mike was out running errands while the girls and I updated the wardrobe options. He came home with a new booster chair for Q - because she wants nothing more than to sit at the table like the rest of us. And the bitty tray on her existing one was a bummer for plate size and art projects. She's totally in love with her new seat and is glad that her daddy finally overruled her cheap mommy and just bought the chair!

After nap today, we took both girls to Disney on Ice. We had few expectations and figured we'd just see how it went. They both loved it (although, like the hockey game, Fiona thought it was too loud) and did really well. Quinn got squirrelly a couple times, but she made it. Fiona was completely entranced the entire time. She was really nervous, but also super excited. When she got to clap to help save Tinkerbell, it was magical. And her grin at the end of the show was worth all the slow traffic that we had to deal with on the way home.