Here's some videos of us at the park on a snowy Saturday. I brought the snow shovel along so that I could make huge pile of snow on the slide for the girls to slide through. They mostly had a good time.
But occasionally, they didn't hit the ground the way they liked.
And they sometimes got snow in their boots.
This is how BB turns half a block into a 15 minute walk. We would pick her up and carry her, but she always has such a big smile on her face.
No denying that winter has arrived.
At least winter givers us the excuse to wear fancy feathered sweaters.
Maggie waiting for the school bus on a frosty morning (around 0 degrees F).
We can only play outside for so long before we freeze our butts off. In the meantime....
Superhero fighting, but first they must find the perfect superhero outfit and weapons.
Cotton Candy Cooks
Dancing helps pass time when you are stuck indoors.
And to finish this post off I leave you with Bea eating her favorite breakfast these days (seasame seed bagels with cream cheese and a large hot chocolate). As you can see she still prefers to dress herself.
I have a feeling there may be a lot of these. The farmer's almanac is predicting the snowiest winter on record. Pretty soon our neighborhood ice skating rink should be set up, so I'm sure we'll take full advantage of that. Sorry these videos aren't so great, but the lighting in the park is pretty bad in places.
Bea's snow angel.
Here's Bea defacing our Christmas decorations.
Update on baby name. Were starting to hone in on what we like. The current lean is Amalie Catherine (Amalie Cate) or Amalie Grace.
A couple of weeks ago, BB got all dressed up for the LSU game. I think she was a little confused, because she kept asking me throughout the day when we were going to be going to the LSU game.
Even though LSU lost, we quickly rebounded and went to see the new Troll movie. Among the many highlights were the card board cut outs....
...and of course, snacks during the movie.
Here's what BB looks like when I pick her up from day care. She's usually wearing some sort of festive head gear and she's always in a silly mood.
Maggie is doing well in school - as evidenced by her spelling test shown below.
This was her first perfect score. Last week, she only forgot the silent "e" on one word, but I blame the French for the that!!! Since I strongly suspect that they don't do much math in her school, we've also been working on multiplication (or on "3rd grade math" as we call it). She's pretty much got everything up to 6x12 covered along with her 10s and 11s.
Gabby and baby are doing fine. We still have not decided on a name but Amalie, Riley, Vivien, Lydia, Collette, Quinn, Paige, and Catherine (Cate) are all still in the mix. We'll probably add a few more, then come up with some combinations. So far I like:
Riley Catherine (Riley Cate)
Lydia Catherine (Lydia Cate)
Claudia Quinn
Collette Quinn
Amalie Paige
Vivien Paige
The name "Beatrice Rose" came to me in flash, so we'll see if I get struck with a similar thunderbolt for this one.
BB practicing her reces peanut butter cup eating skills.
We made our traditional Halloween cupcakes. Maggie's was especially gruesome this year.
Mine was predictably themed.
And here's BB's snaggle-toothed monstrosity.
BB also learned how to use her magic wand.
Halloween is a serious affair, here. All the kids dress up for school (which is no longer allowed in the US) and we loaded up on candy after only about an hour and a half of serious trick-or-treating.
Also, Gabby is pregnant again. The baby is due January 29th. It will be another girl. Still have not settled on a name.
Let us know if you want some. We have two poses and three backgrounds, and also a class picture where Maggie looks really excited (she still hasn't learned how to fake smile).
Here is part two of our "Best of" series. I've tried to select videos that highlight BB, but it can be difficult to find event where she is separated her from her sister. They get along so well, for the most part. In fact, right now Maggie is preparing (a fake) dinner for BB in the other room. BB is being very vocal about her preferences.
In this first video, Maggie was bestowed with the honor of bringing home her Kindergarten class mascot (Suzie) for the Thanksgiving holiday. This is somewhat ironic given that Maggie is petrified of basically all living animals. BB, on the other hand is a totally different story.
As if BB's interactions with Suzie were not evidence enough of her love of animals, perhaps her slow waltz with the fox squirrel will sway your opinion:
A constant throughout the years (and throughout the history of refrigerated storage in developed nations, I suspect) is the love of children for their ice cream. BB is no difference in this regard, as she is sure to point out in this video.
With all that ice cream eating, good tooth brushing skills are an absolute must. BB has that base covered.
The Hula Dance was Maggie's big moment to shine for the camera, but BB tried to steal the show.
When it comes to wild blackberries, BB takes takes no prisoners.
Here is BB experiencing the dangerous "Big Bad Wolf" in person.
Grab a seat for the encore - BB's stage performance (using the camera tripod as a microphone) will last several minutes.
With all my traveling, we had a busy winter last year. But we still found time to honor some of our weekend traditions, like Saturday morning at Dunkin Donuts. Here, BB continues to flash her silly personality.
Last, but not least, here is Bea showcasing her considerable dancing skills (which far exceed her years, I feel).
Hope you have enjoyed our walk down memory lane. There will be many more to come, for sure.
I've pooled together our all time favorite videos of Maggie for a little walk down memory lane. There are many more out there, but I'm sure you will enjoy these classic Maggie moments. We'll do a similar post for Bea in a few days.
Bad Gran: Just before we moved to Illinois, Maggie unleashed her vicious side on an unsuspecting Gran.
My Baby Love: But most of the time, Maggie is a real sweetie. Just ask her singing puppy,
My Biggest Fan: You got to get the kids started early. Here we are getting pumped up for the 2011 LSU football season.
Green Bean Monster: As this first video shows, Maggie has never been been shy when it comes to vegetables - especially green beans.
Let's just say that I think she would give the Green Giant a run for his money.
Disagreeable Fashion: Maggie was not too thrilled about wearing this dress.
Silly ABCs: One time when Maggie was three, we picked her up from preschool and her teacher told us in a very matter-of-fact way that Maggie was "the silliest girl" in the class. One view of this video of Maggie singing her ABCs will attest to that fact.
"I wanted pink presents": For Maggie's third birthday, we made the mistake of asking her the night before what sort of presents she was hoping for. She said she wanted "pink" presents. Unfortunately, Gabby had already wrapped of her presents in paper that was not pink.
You just can't coach that kind of honesty in your children.
Bashful Singer: Maggie actually sings all the time (and she has been for years now). But catching Maggie in her "natural state" is like getting a glimpse of a yeti in Cameron Parish. I managed to pull this off while driving back from Nashville. It was actually snowing at the time and I also had a fever, so that just goes to show what one must be willing to endure to get videos of her singing without her also putting on a silly performance.
We finally got Maggie on the Pirate Ship at Ville Marie. Although her most daring exploits (including the tight rope we walked three stories above the ground) will not be seen, here she is tackling other impediments to successful buccaneering.
All in all, we had a nice sunny day in downtown Montreal.
On Sunday, we tried out some donuts from Tim Horton's (Canada's version of Dunkin' Donuts). They received approval from a panel of experts.
In our attempt to maximize outdoor time before the arrival of winter, we took a day trip to Mt. Tremblanc (about an hour and a half with no traffic from our house). After a picnic, we spent the rest of the day enjoying the nice weather.
BB is not really into posing for the camera these days, so most of the pictures will be of (and by) Maggie.
Here are some pictures Maggie took. They're actually pretty good!
After our day in the park, we stopped at a restaurant for dinner. All was quiet at the table until Michael Jackson came on.
