Vacation

On Tuesday we headed down to Annapolis to spend Thanksgiving at Uncle Bert, Auntie Emily, Cousin Cate, and Cousin Cooper's house. It was a long trip with some annoying traffic, but we got there on Tuesday evening in one piece.

We woke up on Wednesday and headed to the Amish market for breakfast. Late in the afternoon we headed to the bowling alley and had a great time.

Snuggling with Dad

Cousins being naughty

Accessorized

Chuckin' it

Coop!

Excellent form by Cousin Cate

Watching the cousins bowl

Is your bowling so bad that you have to lay down and cry? Yes. 

Happy Anniversary

Nine years ago today, Steve and I walked down the aisle. I have said many times that we probably didn't know quite what we were getting into, but it has been marital bliss ever since :-)

As I grew sentimental thinking about our days as young love birds, I looked back at a few pictures that I have posted below. So young, so in love. While we didn't know where we were headed, we knew we were doing it together. And that was (and continues to be) enough.

The first night we met at Feb Formal

9 years ago with the Fleischman side of the family

During my first trip to Marion to meet Jim and Marthe

Our junior year of college

Walking down the aisle at the end of the ceremony.
We look happy and relieved.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so much fun this year, though I will admit that I went into it with an overtired Debbie Downer attitude. This past week was insane - lots to do at work, lots of social engagements, homework, housework, coaching clinics, blah blah blah. The list goes on. And this unending list made me feel very overwhelmed, especially going into Thursday when both girls needed to have their costumes ready to go for school and I needed to have packed everything they would need that evening to go trick or treating. Long story short: I overreacted, everything was great, the girls had an awesome time, and in the process I totally forgot my camera.

I had my phone on my camera, but the camera isn't that great and it was dark. So we have no pictures of the girls dressed up as cowgirls. I suppose the silver lining is that I could totally convince them to dress up as cowgirls tomorrow and take pictures and pretend like it was Halloween. No one would know but me ... and the five people who read this blog (Hi, Mom!).

Anyway, the girls ate pizza for two minutes before convincing me to get my show on the road and go out trick or treating. We went with another family who had a similar goal: get the kids out early when it was still daylight, trick or treat for about an hour, and head home before things got crazy. We accomplished our goal and ended the evening by visiting a house that handed out toys instead of candy. While that may sound a bit lame, Lucy got a mini Slinky that she loves, and Caroline got these glasses that were an absolute hit:

It was a great Halloween!

Days Are Long

The days are long, and sometimes opening your email can be the worst part of your day.

Then again, sometimes you open your email and find pictures of your daughter happily playing, having lunch with "the big girls," painting, and learning to write her name at school. Those are the emails that you are happy to open:

Reading

There have been times that Lucy has grown frustrated with attempts to sound out words or to find the letters that spell a particular word she is trying to write.

Those frustrations seem to have dissipated since beginning kindergarten at my school. She has "homework" each night (a concept that I will admit that I do have issues with) but this homework has proven to be a positive experience each night as she shows us what she has learned that day about math and phonics.

Most recently, Lucy read me her first book by herself. While this is a big occurrence anyway, it was especially sweet because she has been so upset in the past with attempts to read.

Here she is alone and with her sister:

Not shockingly, Lucy goes to a great school with amazing teachers that encourage her to enjoy learning. I am so in awe of those teachers, and that smile on Lucy's face can easily be attributed to their care and encouragement.

Cookie

Cookie visited last weekend. I totally dropped the ball in terms of taking pictures, but I did manage to snap this one on Sunday night.

No one is happier than Lucy when she is snuggled with one of her grandparents:

Bikes

When we bought our house we were well aware that it was on a busy street. We have a big fenced in backyard, and so we felt okay about the girls not being able to play out in front of the house much. They haven't noticed at all with the exception of the fact that they can't ride their bikes at home. (Our old house had zero yard but had a completely paved "backyard" that could accommodate a lot of bike riding.)

Lucy got a new helmet today (because she has a massive head) and so we took the opportunity to bring the girls to a local school to ride in the empty parking lot. Caroline inherited Cousin Cooper's shark helmet, and so everyone was excited to enjoy the beautiful evening and sport some new accessories.

Near collision

The collisions happened because this is how Caroline
rides her bike at all times: staring at the pedals.

Time to rehydrate

A dad with his ladies