Halloween (a little late)

As I was downloading the dance recital photos, I realized that I never blogged about Halloween. Starshine wanted to be something not cute or Princessy. After much thought, she decided to be a vampire!

Jr. Princess, on the other hand, is still all about being cute. She duplicated Starshine's pink cowboy look from last year. She loves being just like her older sister. We'll see if she picks vampire next year.

We missed Auntie and Uncle while pumpkin carving...

Starshine was off to another neighborhood to trick-or-treat with a friend, while Jr. Princess found a neighborhood friend to join her. I'm convinced that the economy is turning around because they both came home with way more full size candy bars than usual. Jr. Princess even had exotic European chocolate from 2 places???

I, on the other hand, almost turned off my porch light after the second set of preteen boys asked me why I wasn't giving them more candy. Really - who does that?

1st Ever Dance Recital

This Fall, the girls decided they wanted to join dance after attending Jr. Princess's BFF's dance class on a "Bring a Friend" night. After joining, Starshine let me know that she has aways wanted to be in dance. Wow - why didn't you tell me???

They joined a combined 1st-4th grade class of general dance/kicking. They joined a little late in the Fall, so they didn't do the first recital. This was probably good because they got to go watch and see that perfection is not required. There were all kinds of kids confused!

So, this time they were set, in fabulous costumes, and ready to go.

Aren't they sweet?

They can't wait to learn their next routine!

Starshine is currently passionate about being on the high school dance team, so this is her first step. Now I have to just avoid her in the kitchen. She is endlessly practicing her kicking and twirling, and I could get hurt!

Jr. Princess loses a tooth.... finally!

Well, it's official. We have slow tooth losing genes in our house. After a month of wiggling, Jr. Princess, with some Dad assist, finally lost her first tooth at 6 years and 6-1/2 months. (Starshine was almost exactly the same at 6 years and 8 months, way after all of her friends).

She was highly motivated to have it out today, because Starshine promised her a prize from her prize stash if it was out by the end of today. (I just learned that she has a prize stash that she uses to reward Jr. Princess for being quiet when they have sleepovers, etc. How sweet!) She picked a sticker and a stuffed bear keychain.

The funniest part was that Starshine was more nervous than Jr. Princess. She kept her head under the pillow while holding Jr. Princess's hand for support. I taught Jr. Princess how to say "It's not about you" just like I joked with M&M Dad when I told him he wasn't allowed to faint while I was giving birth.

Now it's off to wait for the tooth fairy...

First Day of School

The first day of school was a while ago, so we'll consider this more of a school update. Here's Starshine prepped to take on 4th grade. She was bummed that her BFF is in another class, but still gets to see her in guided reading, math, and recess so it's working out OK. So far her favorite has been the titanic unit. We're very proud of how hard she is working, and how independent she is becoming on getting her work done. She just got an A on her math test, so she's finally starting to understand she's good at math.


Here is Jr. Princess ready to take 1st grade by storm. She does have her BFF in her class, so she's happy, and she reports that her favorite part about school is recess (though she's excelling at reading and math). We already had her conferences, and it was pretty brief because there are only so many ways of her teacher saying "she's a joy to have in class." We agree -she's a joy to have at home, too.

Oh the love... (I wonder how long this will keep up?)

Overall, it's been a good school year and we hope they keep on loving it!

Starshine's Pie

Yeah, Yeah - I haven't blogged in FOREVER! Honestly, back to school time always gets to me. It's so busy with shopping, parent information nights, getting back in to the swing of homework, fall soccer, blah blah blah. So, I may just pretend those 2 months didn't happen, or I may try to catch up the blog on some favorite activities... who knows.

So, this week the girls had 3 days off for teachers convention, so I took vacation to have some fun with them. They, apparently, are tired out, too, because their wish list of activities for the 5 day weekend was pretty tame: movie, craft, cooking project, etc. Every fall we bake all kinds of things with apples (crisp, cake, etc.), but never pie, and Starshine always asks for pie. I'll be honest - pie's pretty far down on my dessert like list, and M&M Dad thinks all cooked fruit is a waste of fruit. But I finally gave in and told her we could make a pie this weekend. Last minute she changed her request to lemon meringue (M&M Dad was happy that no awesome apples were hurt in the making of this pie).

I was nervous - I have baked very few pies in my life and never lemon meringue. But, I must say, it turned out delicious. Grandma L - you would be proud. When it came time to crimp the pie crust rim, she waved me off and said that she could handle it. Grandma showed her when they were baking Thanksgiving pies!

Happy Birthday Starshine!!

Happy 9th Birthday Starshine!! (I had to distort the cake because of super cool candles that spelled her name)

Can you believe she's 9? I sure can't. Wasn't she just:

• learning to walk (oh wait, now she runs faster than me)


• learning to read (yup, she reads more than me now)


• cuddling with me (only if no one's looking)


• Wanting to spend every minute with me (super busy social schedule...)

Man - time flies! It was a rather calm day, because she chose, again, to not have a birthday party. Instead, we will be taking her and her BFF out to dinner and to a U of M soccer game next weekend.

So, her actual birthday was just about opening presents and eating cake (still a great day). She wanted a cool messenger bag, clothes, earrings, and a watch. Wow, she really is a preteen - no toys this year. We ended the day with a delicious plain cheese cake with a toppings bar. Yum!

Oh, and file this under things Grandma L never would have bought me for my birthday...
Clip-in colored hair extensions (I've been told they're all the rage...).

Fun Family Weekend

Last weekend we enjoyed another Minnesota fun family (extended) weekend. We started with a Thursday trip to Waterpark of America. The girls each earned a free ticket from their summer reading program, and we figured it would be nice to water park inside in the summer and not worry about getting sunburned. Unfortunately, M&M Dad made it one and a half times down the water slides before his motion sickness kicked in. We have no idea why the Dramamine didn't work this time. After a few hours of misery, he at least hung out in the regular pool with us, but I have a feeling future trips to the water park will be on a "girls only" day!


Next up was camping at a state park. This was a huge hit last year with the girls (and reasonably tolerated by me because of the camper cabin) so M&M Dad found a new park to enjoy. This site was spectacular because there was not another campsite or at least a 1/2 mile. We had wonderful, peaceful nature, and not loud, boisterous neighbors!


Of course, this also meant that the cabin was a half mile from parking, too! The kids were troopers carrying stuff (and M&M Dad took extra trips), and it was a lot of fun.


Our awesome cabin of solitude...



The kids are totally gaga for bunk beds...


We found a geocache down by the lake... (Too bad M&M Dad also found some wasps while rehiding said geocache - ouch!)


Starshine reading us constellation stories by the campfire after a delicious dinner of pudgie pies and s'mores...

And lots and lots of hiking... (There was a real bathroom 1/2 mile from the cabin, so we were SUPER motivated to go on lots of hikes! The girls were outraged when they found out Dad could just go to the bathroom in the woods instead of using the stinky outhouse!)

The girls also had fun teaching us all of the card games they have learned over the summer. I'd say the only downside was the boatloads of mosquitoes. I have never used so much Off in my life!

We capped of the weekend by taking M&M Dad to the Twins game for his birthday.

The Twins didn't put up much of a fight against the Yankees, but we still had fun and it was a beautiful day. Starshine, though, was shocked at all the people booing at A-Rod and Jeter. Afterwards, we went to his favorite Neopolitan pizza restaurant and then home for homemade ice cream sandwiches - delish!

Happy Birthday Sweetie- yeah, you're just as old as me again!

Work Picnic

Every year my technical community hosts a family picnic, and the kids LOVE IT. And why not - it's all kinds of kid activities, treats - and it's free!

Here Jr. Princess is on the pony rides... she's sporting a hat Dad won at bingo...

Starshine went, but has since determined she is too old for little pony rides. Of course, she was delighted to find that the Cheerios dig as open to 8 and under, and she was not officially 9 yet!

And they both loved the rock wall, especially after watching a lot of repelling on Expedition Impossible this summer.

Jr. Princess was like a little monkey. I'm pretty sure she went higher than her sister (don't tell Starshine that!)

There were also carnival games, super jumps, a gymnastics area, and petting zoo - and I'm sure I'm missing a few. After dinner we enjoyed my favorite - the employee-made ice cream sandwiches using Haagen Dazs ice cream - yum! Then it was off to Bingo, where, after a while of no luck whatsoever, Dad and I both won, and then he won one of the prize drawings. He picked an awesome box of company products that just happened to have everything the kids love.

Jr. Princess loved everything, but I think she was most excited about this cotton candy...


It was a wonderful evening.

Little Leader

We found the nicest note in Starshine's Summer Care folder a few weeks
ago...

"Starshine has been invited to the Leadership team this week because she
is very kind and responsible"

We couldn't agree more! She LOVES her new found responsibilities, which have included judging the sand castle contest, and planning for an upcoming carnival. She's such a good kid!

Just Jr. Princess

This week, Starshine is away with a friend at the friend's grandparents cabin. When we called on day two, we heard tales of tubing, swimming off a pontoon boat, AND jet skiing. Man - next year I'm going to see if I can come, too!

Of course, Jr. Princess was upset at not getting to go, but then she found out how fun "Just Jr. Princess" time can be. So far she has enjoyed going to the farmers market and several parks with Dad, the library and swimming at the lake with Mom, picking whatever tv show and game she wanted, and not having to share anything. M&M Dad and I have been enjoying alternating quality one-on-one time with Jr. Princess, with some precious alone time -- Oh, and not having to referee any arguments!

Tonight she finished up with a rousing time of water balloons with Dad.

I'm guessing this week of being an only child will work out just fine (Um, except that I really miss Starshine!)