Spring has sprung! FINALLY!

What has happened in the last month...

That's me (standing, third from the left) with a bunch of friends after we ran the Disney Royal Family 5K at Epcot the first weekend in March.  This was my first 5K, and even though I didn't get bit by the running bug, I did have a lot of fun!  It probably helped that we were all wearing tutus and boas!

And even though I let the cold weather we had and the time change (too dark in the early morning!) further disrupt my "training," I signed up for another 5K in April.  No tutus this time!

That's the girls just this past Sunday, wearing dresses they got for Christmas from their GG -- the weather was finally spring-y enough for them! 

Gracie is doing great in school, her teacher has started her in the Accelerated Reader program and she seems to be loving it, and doing well!  She hasn't shown an interest in any kind of after-school activity so far (soccer, ballet, etc.), but when I told her about her school's Young Authors Celebration and that she could write a book for it, she was all over it!  She wrote three little books in one weekend!  We picked one to turn in -- she dictated her words to me since she was having trouble fitting them on the page, and she did all the illustrations and the cover page!  She was so excited to turn it in!

Rachael has turned into a total Chatty Cathy!  I love listening to her talk, and she's getting much more conversational with the moms and dads of her friends!  I've been told she's pretty much the teacher's little assistant in her preschool class, and that just tickles me!  She's also started to sing songs in the car and during movies -- I'm already looking forward to the fall when she starts choir!  Of course, we'll see how she does at the end of the year program for preschool in May! 

This is our Spring Break, so I've been trying to keep the girls busy -- and we had our 2nd Annual Pajama Day on Tuesday!  The girls loved going to the mall in their pajamas with their friends, and I have to admit, it was pretty comfy!  Three other moms and their kids joined us this year, it was a lot of fun!  We have a big playdate and picnic coming up, then a movie morning, and by next Monday I'll probably need another week to recover!

Now, for your viewing pleasure... Recently Chris got me a new game for the Wii, Just Dance, and Grace decided she was going to get in on the action.  She's already topped my score at a couple of the songs!  So here we are "dancing" to Wannabe by The Spice Girls:

Now that I've sufficiently made a fool of myself, I'll go!  :-)  Hope things are warming up where you're at!

We survived Spring Break!

That was one fun week! I knew I needed to keep the girls happy and busy while Grace was out of school -- so Grace wouldn't get bored, and so Rachael wouldn't be unhappy with her sister being at home so much! :-) Thankfully, on Monday we had a playdate with friends, and then Tuesday we had...

PAJAMA DAY!

Yep, we're all in our pajamas and, nope, we are NOT at home! I declared Tuesday to be Pajama Day, and the girls and I headed out to the mall. Yes, we went out in public in our pajamas. Thankfully a few other friends joined us -- although I was only joined by one other mom in the wearing of the pj's! Grace LOVED the idea, she thought it was great, and we really did have a blast! (The high was only 70 on Tuesday, so we were dressed warm -- Florida girls, remember!)

I really didn't make any plans for Wednesday, figuring we'd need one day of rest. I had some plans for things to do with the girls indoors that required a trip to the store, but Rachael surprised me by sleeping until close to ELEVEN A.M.! Not only did she sleep that late, but both girls ended up taking an afternoon nap. I got to go out with a friend that night as well, so I think Wednesday can be declared MOMMY DAY!

They had a couple of mornings with their grandma while I had Bible study and another morning was spent house hunting (nothing yet!), and then one afternoon before Daddy got home, we went outside with the pinwheels Grandma had gotten them. There was a great breeze, and it was much better than the girls nearly hyperventilating inside trying to get them to spin!

Friday evening we had pictures taken for the church directory, and RACHAEL SMILED! I almost wanted to buy a package just to have photographic evidence! She wasn't even holding her burp cloth, either!! On Saturday, we went to see Monsters vs. Aliens, and both girls will tell you they got a little scared during the movie. When you ask Rachael, she will hold up her hands in little fists underneath her chin, open her eyes wide and say, "It skeer me!"

And, of course, Sunday was EASTER! We had a great day at church, then we were at Nana's afterwards for food, family and fun! Here are the girls in their Easter dresses -- and Grace's was made for her by Aunt Carol! Beautiful!

Now we return to our regularly scheduled programming! :-)

Breaking Spring!

I guess Spring Break officially started on Saturday, so we began the time with an Easter egg hunt at church! Before you could say "Peter Cottontail," the kids had collected all the eggs, but the girls (and the rest of the kids) seemed to have a lot of fun! Of course Grace and Rachael have had a blast emptying their baskets and taking out their little treasures again... and again... and again! :-)


Gracie has been on a walking kick lately! One week I think she asked us if we could go on a walk every afternoon! She's wanted to ride her bike (which she's almost too big for!!), so while we were still enjoying some gorgeous weather, we went for a stroll around the complex and ended up at the playground.

She won't stop growing, no matter how much I beg!

Getting a push by her big sister, and loving every minute of it!

On Sunday we went to a picnic (client appreciation, woo-hoo!), and we knew as soon as we got there that we were going to have to eat fast so we could get the girls on the playground! It was a great way to start the week and a wonderful time together as a family!

A photographer from the local newspaper asked to take a couple of shots of Chris and Rachael coming down the slide -- I don't blame him, it was so cute!

Rachael all smiles with Daddy after getting most of her arm soaking wet!

And while I could not talk Rachael into a posed picture,
Grace was more than happy to help!
This is just one of many she hammed it up for!

I'm hoping to have some creative fun with the girls this week so Grace won't miss school too much! It'll give me some practice for this summer!

Also, remember our little timeline that I mentioned at the end of this post? Well, some of you suggested that perhaps it was time for us to have another kid. Instead of doing that, I thought I'd go ahead and have some surgery myself! ;-) It's not a big deal, really just a test, but I would appreciate the prayers just the same!

Hope that you're enjoying your spring, and our friends and family up north will be through with their cold weather soon enough!