Milestone Moments

We've recently had 2 milestone moments in the Schmidt household.

1. Anni got her first pair of real shoes. They are super tiny, ridiculously cute and velcro. :)

2. I bought the girls some art supplies earlier last week. Included in the shopping trip were markers, paint, dixie cups and construction paper. While I was busy putting some clothes away the other afternoon, I noticed the girls were being very quiet. And it was a quiet I'd never really heard before. When I listed to the quiet, I heard something suspicious. So, I called down to Abby and asked her what she was doing. She proudly came to the bottom of the stair and hollered up that she was coloring Anni. When I went downstairs, here's what I found:

Ain't no Mountain High

Last night we celebrated Grandpa's birthday (Dana's dad) with dinner at our house. Dana cooked the meat and I took care of the side dishes. It was quite a team event and I'm pleased to say everything turned out well. The girls, of course, were thrilled to get some undivided attention from Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Gigi and Jeff.

Dana and I may have cooked, but the girls provided the entertainment portion of the evening. Abby made Grandpa a necklace, after informing him he needed to sit down on the floor with her, in order to do it the "right" way. Both girls wowed the crowd with their spinning capabilities. The showstopper was the end of the night dancing, however. Deb got Daryl a card that sings "Ain't no Mountain High Enough" when you open it. The girls thought this was the best thing ever and spent at least 15 minutes dancing around, opening the card, closing the card, incorporating the ever important spins. They had a great time and all the adults got a good laugh.

Somehow, the card got left at our house. I forgot about it, of course, but the girls are already all over it this morning. Dance party USA here we come!

Discovery Days

Today we worked on letters in school. Abby was none too interested in stamping the letters or making the letter tree. She was, however, interested in the giant letter puzzle on the floor and the blocks with letters on them. Class today seemed to go very quickly. Before we knew it, it was time for snack, separate time and the goodbye song. Afterwards, we had an extra special treat and rode the horses - there's a little carousel in the mall lobby. Abby got to ride the black horse and Anni stood in the middle. She's still too little to actually sit on the horses. And when we were done, they were very cooperative and got right off, so we could go see Daddy! Those 2 LOVE to see their Daddy!

"Temper" Tantrums?

Abigail is testing her limits. She's started throwing what can technically be described as tantrums, but hers are a special brand. Mostly, she just looks me dead in the eye and says, "I don't want to." Even if she does want to. Even if she's in the process of doing whatever it is. And last night, she apparently decided to have a tantrum in her sleep...I could hear her saying over and over, "I don't want to." It was pretty funny.

She even attempted to throw a fit at Walgreens the other day. We were leaving an aisle and I said, "Abby, come on. Time to go." She said, "I don't want to," and then very deliberately and very slowly sat down on the floor. She started to slide her hands back, so she would be lying on the floor, but apparently didn't really like the idea of lying on the floor. So, she got back up and trotted after me.

I'm really hoping these "tantrums" are as bad as they get, but I'm not holding my breath...

School Days

The girls woke up (finally) without fevers today, so we got to go to school today! Today was Abby's 2s and 3s class. Anni got to play in the playroom. After we dropped Anni at her favorite activity table (and she didn't even whimper when we left), Abby and I headed down the hallway to her classroom. We had a different teacher today, since Miss Jean wasn't feeling well. After the hello song where we hugged the raccoon, we got straight to the activities. Today we painted on chalkboards with water (not overly exciting), made spider web rubbings (a little more interesting), played with the magnet board (made snowmen with all sorts of funny hats) and then, the piece de resistance...the toddler tubes! Abby had a blast crawling through the collapsible tubes again...and again...and again. Then we played with the parachute, had a snack, did some free time and before we knew it, it was time to go home! Minor tantrum on the way to pick up Anni, but nothing major. We're attempting nap time at the moment, but there's more giggles than snores at the moment...

Photo Ops

Swimming lessons

Anni feeding Abby

More swimming

Anni at school

Anni being silly
Anni, show me your mouth
Is that a great smile or what?

Apologies

I've been a bit lax in the blogging updates the past week or two. My apologies. I promise to try and stay more on top of the updates. If nothing else, I know blogs are a good way to take a mini break during the work day.

Last week was quiet around the house. I attempted the marathon on Sunday and made it halfway. I was quite pleased with making it as far as I did. The girls and I spent the remainder of last week attempting to recuperate from the fateful day. My foot's still a bit sore, but the girls tried to cooperate and not make me run after them too much.

This week, we tried to go to school on Monday, but the teacher wasn't there that day. Abby was particularly upset by the change in plans, so we were forced to go and eat donuts in order to make ourselves feel a little better. Tuesday evening we went to visit with Dana's cousins who were in from out of town. They had their kids with them on the trip, so the girls got in some good playtime. Wednesday was another no school day. We did make it to the gym, which Abby loves and Anni tolerates. Abby had herself a nice little fit when we had to leave and I had the lovely time of dragging her through the Y and the parking lot. Good times.

Today we ran errands all morning and the girls were very helpful until the end. Then it was REALLY time to get out of the car. Anni was especially adamant about that. At the moment, they're attempting (not very hard) to take naps. Then we're off to the grocery store. I tell you...the excitement never ends.

I'll try and post some recent pictures of the girls later this evening. Hopefully that will appease some of the readers. :)

Have a great day!