Mardi Gras

We went to New Orleans this weekend and I am sad to report that I forgot my camera. I missed a lot of great shots. Meredith and I spent the afternoon downtown on Saturday while Matt took the girls to his former elementary school Mardi Gras parade. On Saturday evening we went over to our friend's the Liuzza's for dinner. We took Regan and left Addison with Granny, so that she could go to sleep at her regular time. On Sunday we went to Matt's cousin's house in LaPlace for the LaPlace parade. It was a fun filled weekend.

We spent Mardi Gras Day at our former neighbor's house who have now moved near the Lafayette parade route. It was a fun, but long day. It was Matt's first Lafayette parade and my second. I took the girl's to one last year.

I was surprised by how well Addison did with Mardi Gras. She kept telling us that she wanted to catch some beads. She also didn't seem to bothered by the noise. She kept saying... it's a little loud. It's noisy.

We also had Regan's Mardi Gras Parade last week, but I forgot my sd card. So, I am waiting for my friend to give me a disk of pictures.

Bu Bu "B"

The other day Addison wanted to practice her letter's on her draw. I drew the B, and Regan wanted to help her by giving her the sound that the letter makes. Fast forward to today, we are at the library and I am reading a book to Addison and it has a cricket in it. Addison said cricket, but not very clearly. So, I repeated it back to her and she says.... bu bu cricket.

Sweets

I guess they have been studying health and dental health at school. She has suddenly become interested in food and whether or not it is healthy or not. It hasn't changed how she eats at all, but she is still interested. So this morning she says to me..."Mommy; fruit snacks are not good for your teeth, but they taste good."

Swim Team

Regan (who is all about the costume) got her swim team cap at her last practice. She was very excited!

"The Art Place"

Tonight Regan asked Addison if she wanted to go to the "art place." Apparently this is the tent that Aunt Carla got for Regan a few years ago.

Soccer

Regan had her first game of probably her one and only season of soccer. As we suspected, our little princess does not care for soccer. Oh well! Maybe Addison will.

Dentist Office Field Trip

Regan's school took a field trip to the dentist office. Her teacher sent these home in an envelope that said on the front.... Mr. and Mrs. Manning. I'm not going to lie... getting an envelope home from school with that on the front makes my heart skip a beat. Anyway, Regan seemed to have fun. They watched a movie about plaque and your teeth and she told us all about it.

Growing Up So Fast!

My children are growing up so fast! I wish I could stop time. Addison learned to climb the ladder to the big slide in our backyard and slide down it this weekend. And Regan is finally learning to swing herself. I say finally.... when I am quite sure that I was at least 6 years old before I learned to do that. But a lot of her friends can do it... and up until now, she has shown no interest in it. I guess she finally got tired of asking us to swing her.

Park

The weather was so nice here today. To pretty to be inside. Addison has been wanting to feed the ducks, so we took the kid's to the park today. They had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave. Addison even slid down the big slide by herself for the first time today. Only she goes down backwards. Regan.... who never met a camera that she didn't like... posed everytime she saw the camera pointed her way.

Addison Funnies

Addison is a very funny little girl and has been extra funny lately... so I thought I would share..

1. The other day I was taking the girl's through the McDonald's drive through. I payed at the first window and proceeded to drive to the second window.... Addison says... We forgot!... So, I say... What did we forget?... She says... Our food! Mommy, we forgot our food!

2. Last night as I was moisturizing and diapering Addison she put her hands in my hair and said... You're beautiful. (She actually tells me this a lot. She's a very loving child... except when her sister taunts her... and then she has been known to hit her sister, but immediately hug her as soon as she realizes that I saw said offense) So, I said... Thank you. You're beautiful, too. She said... I not beautiful. I not dressed.

3. Tonight I was reading Duck and Goose to Addison and Regan. It's about a duck and a goose who think that a ball is an egg and at first they fight over who is going to protect the egg and then they decide to take care of it together. While they are caring for the "egg" and discussing what they will teach their baby... a blue bird kicks the "egg" and they discover that their egg is actually a ball. So, in the beginning of the book (that we have read several times before) Addison points to the egg/ball and says... What's this?... I say.. I don't know.... She say's... It's a ball.... in a voice that clearly says... you should know this.

Addison now recognizes the letters A - D. At least she does in the Alphabet Book. She is not quite the puzzle mastermind that her sister was at this age, but I think that has more to do with her being the second child and I don't have the time to work with her like I did with Regan. She does like peg puzzle's and we are working on jigsaw puzzles. She especially likes to pretend like she can't put pieces in the right way. I will tell her to turn it around and she will say... like this? With it upside down. I can tell she is taunting me because of the smile on her face. I may have a class clown on my hands.

Overscheduled Child

Well, we have officially overscheduled Regan. She has swimming two days a week and dancing one day a week. And now she is in Soccer for the Spring... which means practice one day a week (right after dancing) and games on the weekend. Matt wanted her to try soccer, because he really likes the game. So, we decided to start her in the Spring because it is a much shorter season than the fall (half). She had practice last night and we were amazed that she knew what to do with the ball. They must play at school. If she ends up liking soccer, she will have to make choices as to what she wants to do. Neither one of us can keep up with this schedule for long.

Aquarium

We went to New Orleans this weekend so that Matt and I could run in the Mardi Gras Half Marathon Sunday morning. My friend and running partner also came to run and we met up with our families on Saturday morning at the Aquarium. It was a fun weekend, but Matt and I are both hurting (as I am sure everyone who ran the race is) now. But we are both proud of our accomplishment.

Would You Like Fries with That?

Regan's Parent/Teacher Conference

It went really well. We went a day early, so we had a lot more time. I am usually at the school early on Thursday, so the teacher asked me if I wanted to come while they were at library. It works out better for me, because Addison is at school and we have more time. Her teacher said that we could do it that way again for the next one.

She got the highest marks on everything. She is doing well academically and socially. Their one concern is that she doesn't transition well. To the point where the teacher asked us if we thought she might have a hearing problem. I had to laugh at that. I am positive that her only hearing problem is what my parent's always called selective hearing. To this day if I am focused on something I literally cannot hear you if you start talking to me. Sometimes I can think for a minute and recall what it was you said... I guess it is in my sub conscience. The teacher said that there was one time that Regan was the last one in the sandbox. She said they would have never left her, because they count the kids before going in (thank goodness). But she said they ring the bell and call for the kids... and there was Regan with no one around her doing whatever she was doing. Unfortunately, I don't think anything will ever change it. I think it is just something that she got from me that can be good and bad.

Her comments for her conference were:

With a curious nature and spirit of cooperation, Regan is making steady progress. She takes pride in her art work and her daily projects. I admire her responsible attitude and pleasant disposition as she meets the challenges of Pre-K4.

Regan is to be commended on her ability to interact with her peers in a positive manner. She has a pleasant disposition and she is a pleasure to teach.

Regan's evaluation is a reflection of her consistent effort and hard work.

Regan is having problems with transitions and we are working to improve this area.

Zoo

We met some friend's at the zoo today and the kids had fun until it started raining. They mostly played on the new playground that was recently built. We did see a few animal's... mostly while we were riding the train. It's not often that we don't have a million things to do on the weekend, so it was nice to be able to go to the zoo today.

Fun at the Park

We met some of our friend's that we don't see very often at the park today. It was a beautiful day... to pretty to be inside. Regan didn't have school, because it was parent/teacher conference day (more on that later). Matt and I did our's yesterday, so the girls and I had the whole day free. The girl's were so excited to see their friends. We used to see them at least once a week and now that Regan is in school every day we don't see them very much at all.

While we were there we ran into some friend's with their grandparents. Their parents (some good friends of ours) are on vacation. The youngest had had a hard day and was missing her mommy. So, I was really glad that we ran into them. The little girl loves Regan and perked up a lot once Regan sat down with her. I can definitely relate to kid's missing their mommy, so I was glad we were able to help out.

It's Official

Addison loves school. The last couple of times I have dropped her off her teacher has been coming down the hall and took her from me. Addison goes willingly. Today, we weren't as early as we usually are and so I walked her all the way to her classroom. As soon as we walked through the door she was taking her backpack off and running for the table (they had peg puzzles layed out). It does a mother's heart good.

Regan is doing really well with swimming. She has made a lot of progress in a very short amount of time. Monday and Wednesday she stayed for class. Monday was after a lesson, so she was in for a long time. Yesterday we were late, so she wasn't able to have her lesson. Yesterday she swam the entire length of an olympic size pool holding on to bar bells. Which I was really impressed with. The teacher also had them swim with just their fins, which Regan didn't really do. I think she was intimidated, which I can understand. She is doing much better on her back. She's not afraid anymore, but she still needs to work on getting her tummy up when she is on her back. The teacher is still going to work with her one on one. Which is fine with me. She said that she has a beautiful kick and she listens well. I, of course, am just glad that she listens. Everything else will come. Now if she would only listen to me....

Ready for School

While I was getting ready for school this morning I hear Addison say that she's ready for school. I turn around and this is what I see...

Of course, I had to take a picture of such cuteness. Then we are about to walk out the door and I turn around and see this...

Both of my kid's put sunglasses on their heads. I'm pretty sure it's because they see me do it. But it's so much cuter on them.

No Love for Mommy

I was on the phone with Matt today and Addison wanted to know who I was on the phone with (as she always does). When I told her it was Matt she said... I love Daddy. And then... I love Daddy best. Regan immediately piped in with ... I love Granny, Elmo and Christmas best. So glad I rank. : )

In other news... Regan is doing really well with swimming. She is in the process of taking swim lessons from the Lafayette Swim Team coach with the purpose of being on the swim team. She wouldn't compete at meets for another year or two, but she would be on the "team." She has had a little trouble with being afraid of being on her back, which is the main thing that was holding her back. To the point where I was starting to question whether I was doing the right thing or not. I can remember not liking being on my back and I was much older than her when I learned. Anyway, today we had a break through. She did much better today and the coach let her stay for "practice" which is really a class. She told me to bring her 15 minutes later next time and that she will now do lessons and then class. She said it won't be long before she is just doing class.