What the Girls Wore - Halloween

How about some pictures of some cute girls.

Some days are perfect and this was one of them.

I complain a lot about how early Catie's school is but one nice thing I can say is that her bus stop is great. There's a playground and then a lake with tons of geese.

 Eden loves the girl swings.

 and both girls can't get enough of this little squirrel

I spent a couple hours potty training Eden and then quickly decided it's too early and quit. I took this one cute bum shot though.

 We made some dipped marshmallow treats for Halloween

  and they were a hit

And then there was Halloween. You've seen Eden the bunny

and Catie was Sofia the First

The girls went trick or treating and got piles of candy. It was all a success.

Quick and Cheap Closet Update

I know I keep singing my mother's praises but it's only because she's a genius.

Whens she was here reupholstering my couch Catie and I were putting away her clothes. She loves to help but she can't reach the bar in the closet, so she gets a stool, I put the clothes on the hanger and then Catie hangs them up. It's kind of a long, painful process but at least she's helping.

Enter my brilliant mother.

For ridiculously cheap we created this dropped bar.

I had an expandable shower curtain rod on hand so we used that. We picked up some cheap chain from Home Depot, wrapped it around the bar and hooked the end up, super easy.

In some spots we used little bolts and screws but in another we just opened the chain and hooked it together, I would do that next time.

Here's the bolt and screw

 See how I just hooked the chains together?

You can see how the chain is wrapped around the rod.

And now Catie can hang up her own clothes all by herself. She can easily see what's in her closet and get herself dressed.

Pictures of the Girls

It's been such a long time since I posted any pictures of the girls so here's a bit of a recap.

We spent the summer going to the zoo where we saw a huge turtle that Eden was in love with

We played in the pool on the deck

We went to Grandma's house and saw these cool birds

That one behind her is real, not stuffed

And saw bunnies at the petting zoo

Both girls had birthday's, Eden with giant cupcakes

and Catie with an Elsa cake

We went to Calaway Park with Grandma

and Catie started school

She likes riding the bus the best

It snowed

And then turned really beautiful again

We spend ridiculous amounts of time at the park since Catie's bus stop is at one. 

We play there almost every day

We moved to a new house that the girls love

And Catie got two new cousins (though we haven't met Cassidy yet). She loves baby Beatrix though and wants to hold her every chance she gets

We've had a great summer and fall so far.

Some Random Photos

Hanging out in the ball pit at gymnastics

Just reading books with Daddy.

The other day we told Eden it was time to come have a snack so she headed over to the table, then stopped, turned to Brad and said, "Come on!" (not that clearly of course).  Her speech has really improved lately and she says tons of words.  I think her favourite is "Here go", meaning here you go.  We hear that one a lot as she hands us things.  And my favourite is when she says all done it comes out like "Gah Gum".  Lately the word No has been making a larger presence in our house though, becoming a fast favourite of hers.

And here are a couple ballet photos for you... the class was super adorable from beginning to end.

Today in the car we were coming home from preschool and I told Catie that I missed her while she was gone.  She said, "Don't worry, I'll always have time for you".

 
The other day we were getting ready for gymnastics so I laid out Catie's clothes and then left her to get dressed.  She came upstairs clothed and we headed off.  We got home and she went to use the potty, when she was done she called out, "Mommy, I can't find my knickers (underwear), they're not in my pants".  Yeah, she forgot to put her knickers on this morning... oops.

Horsie Rides

These girls love each other as much as ever.  One of their favourite activities is horsie rides with Daddy, usually they take turns but I particularly love when they ride together.


But this is even better (note that Eden is wearing Catie's shirt)

Videos of the Girls

A couple of random videos I've taken recently.

Catie's preschool had a Christmas concert (I'm sure it wasn't called Christmas) and they did all sorts of songs and one dance.  The dance was my favourite.  I especially like when her teacher comes in the video so you can see what they're supposed to be doing (it's not a great video and I think only a grandparent will love it).



This video needs no introduction.  Though the video's a couple months old and I can't believe how much younger she looks.


And lastly, a little bath tub peek a boo

Brad's Birthday

Brad turned 30 this year and as part of our celebration I thought we'd call him during the day and Catie could sing happy birthday to him.  Only once she got on the phone she got stage fright and clammed up, refusing to sing at all.   I convinced her to take a video of her singing instead which turned out to be even better because now we have it recorded.  I think the squirrel (that she oddly named Auntie) gave her courage.



For Brad's gift I gave him two nerf guns.  They were as big a hit as I had hoped and we'v got hours of enjoyment out of them already.

Gymnastics 2013

Catie has been doing gymnastics for a long time and she's a star. At the end of each semester we get to go and watch and we can take videos.  I'm sure only me and grandparents will enjoy them but I think they're awesome.  Enjoy.

Balance Beam somersault

Her favourite trampoline Bounce

She does an awesome cartwheel

Balance beaming

 She hung out here for a while, just cause she can

Handstands

And Eden even gets to play.  She was a superstar and hung on a bar, it's hard to tell but Coach Laura isn't holding on to her here.  I think she's a gymnast in the making.

In addition to gymnastics we added a ballet class.  

She class is so cute, her teacher is graceful and lovely and the kids are like elephants.  I love it, though Catie's unsure is she likes it or not.  It's not something that comes as easily as gymnastics but I think she's warming up to it.

Christmas 2013

Christmas was so much fun this year, Catie was really into it and was finally excited to see Santa.

We gave Eden this baby in a bed and I loved that first thing in the morning she waddles over and put the baby's soother in her own mouth.

These next photos are super blurry but they show her finding the bottle and instantly putting it in her own mouth.

Catie got even more horses for Christmas, just the way she likes it.

Grandma gave Eden this great wagon

And this is how it gets used most often.