Creativity trumps energy

Sometimes I just don't have the energy to cook a 'real' dinner for the girls, especially if I'm not hungry or if Harvey and I are eating later. On those occasions, I end up doing something really boring for them to eat, and I often feel a bit guilty about it. No Mom Of The Year Awards around here...
Sometimes, to distract them from how b-o-r-i-n-g their dinner is, I get a little creative:
Lela's plain old peanut butter and jelly sandwich is cut in the shape of an L.

And Resli's WAS in the shape of a R, but she was apparently so hungry that I didn't get there in time. Now it just looks like a P, which se pointed out is ok too, since princess starts with P!

Pretty soon they'll be old enough to realize that my creativity is just a cover for my laziness, but for now I'm all for a little ruse every now and then.

Happy Third Birthday, Lela!

Three years ago today (ok, yesterday by the time I'm posting, the pictures are from the actual birthday day), Lela joined us in this big wide world.

Happy Birthday, Lela! 

We celebrated twice, once with cupcakes for her friends at school and once with Grandma and Granddaddy at dinner time. And of course more cake and singing.

Cake makes everyone happy! 

Lela loved all her cards and the sweet things people wrote in them, and her wonderful presents too. 

 

One of the most exciting gifts for both girls was the new sheets and comforter... 

....Because that meant that it was time to turn "Resli's room" in to "Resli and Lela's room", and to move Lela in to a big girl bed!

In case you didn't see it, this is what Resli's room used to look like.  

And here's what it looks like now!

 

They were pretty psyched about it when they saw it!

And they're looking forward to sleeping in the same room. 

Of course, as I write this they're supposed to be napping and all I hear is singing, giggling and what I fear is the sound of four little feet jumping on beds!

Fall Festival Fun

Lela's Minnie ears finally came - don't they just complete the look?

Since she and Resli were already in costumes, Aunt Liz took them to a fall festival at Grandma and Granddaddy's apartment complex.

Food, games, candy, fun... I'm starting to think that with all these pre-Halloween parties, the girls will be a little disappointed when the 31st actually rolls around!

A birthday / costume party

Resli's new friend from school, Jacob, invited her to his birthday party last weekend. Since it was so close to Halloween, it was a costume party too. Here's the dressed up gang:

There were lots of fun things to do in Jacob's yard, including this awesome tire swing.

Magician Mike came to the party too and did lots of tricks. Resli got to be his assistant for one of them!

   

He made fun balloon shapes for the kids - Resli got a 'magic heart wand,' whatever that is.

We left before the cake, but other than that Resli thought it was a pretty great party!

Getting ready for Halloween

The girls' Halloween costumes are just about ready - here's a sneak peek.
Resli will be Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz:

And Lela will be Minnie Mouse. Her ears/headband are missing, but we are assured they will arrive shortly. (She'll also wear shoes for Halloween, of course.)

All in all, two very happy girls, looking forward to some Halloween excitement.

Any suggestions for where we should trick or treat around Gainesville?

Gator Homecoming Parade

Last weekend was Homecoming, and Resli's DaisyScout troop got to march in the parade!
They wore their GirlScout uniforms and had posters celebrating "the Gator Nation".

Then they all got together and marched the long parade.

Resli was a great participant, waving to the crowd and making friends.

Unfortunately, the football team lost... but it was the best parade ever!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Tomorrow is Harvey's birthday, but since I'm going away to a conference, we had to celebrate a little early. Tonight we had the requisite orange and blue cake.

And the requisite very-happy-girls to accompany it!

Even though he only had three candles, it took some effort to blow them out, but luckily there was help from both sides.

And the messiness of orange and blue buttercream icing everywhere was, as always, well worth it!

The newest Daisy Scout

This week was a big week for Resli - it was the investiture for her Daisy Scout troop. After school we all went out for a quick dinner at Subway - one of Lela's favorite places!

Then we went to the troop meeting and all sat and watched as the girls filed in. Unfortunately, Resli sat in the back, next to her friend Katrina (to her left), so there were few picture taking opportunities.

They each said the Girl Scout promise, which Resli memorized after hearing it once.


Then they asked each girl why she wanted to be a Daisy Girl Scout. After sever girls answering, timidly, "To have fun...," Resli blew the crowd away:


And then they finished off with a great Daisy Scout song:


Off course all celebrations end with a good ole' daisy jump!

Resli loves it, and I think it will be a good experience for her. On Friday her troop gets to march in the Homecoming Parade with the Gators!

A family portrait

We had our portrait taken for the church directory a few weeks ago, and we wanted to share it with you - especially since we so rarely get a picture of all four of us together. 

What do you think?

     (PS - the scanner cut off the bottom half of the picture for some odd reason...)

To put it in a little perspective, this is what our church directory photo looked like just four short years ago... 

(Lela obviously likes this year's better. How about you?)

Explaining my silence

I apologize to all blogfans for the lack of posts lately. The day-to-day commitments of a kindergarten student cannot be underestimated! But I take most of the blame myself, as my life as department chair has kept me busier than I had imagined, in ways in which I could not have imagined.

As I slowly adjust I will resume my less-pathetic pace of blog posts.

In the mean time, why don't you take a trip down memory lane and look back on the days when Resli and Lela were just a few months old (click the links)? That should keep you busy for a while...