Thank You

Thank you.  These are two words that I believe are extremely important, yet aren't heard enough these days it seems like.  I grew up being taught that "thank you" is something that needs to be said or written.  I strongly believe that if someone takes the time to do something for you, then you need to take the time to acknowledge it.  Wether it be the person checking you out at the supermarket, or a person giving you a gift.  I love notecards and think that writing thank yous are just as important.   (For birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, a nice gesture, etc.)

Lately I have had some proud "mommy moments" on this subject.  =)  The girls are always good about saying thank you when someone does something for them.  They thank a person for holding a door open for them, they thank friends for being nice to them, they thank each other for giving toys to each other to play with, they thank their dance teachers after class, etc.  But yesterday I just beamed inside.  We were at a birthday party of some friends.  When it was time to go I had the girls go find the birthday kids to say good bye.  They did and thanked them as well.  Then, without being prompted, both girls went to go find the mom of the kids.  I watched as they walked right up to her and said, "Goodbye.  Thank you for inviting us to the party! We had fun!".  I was SO proud!!!  I am so pleased to see that they know how important "thank you" is.  =)

"Let's go fly a kite...."

Today it was REALLY windy.  So what else to do on a windy day but go fly kites!!  It was fun flying kites, playing tag, and the girls LOVED running up the steep hills and rolling down.  (Abby liked to slowly tiptoe down and Ella liked rolling as fast as she could.)

Getting ready to roll down the "big hill".

And they're off!

Beauty Shop

This week I caught the girls playing beauty shop.  It got very quiet in the other room (which can be good or bad - Ha!) and this is what I saw:

Ella using the spray bottle for Abby's hair.

Abby's "new do" from Ella.

Ella's turn!

Such sweeties!

Thursday I had fun and was in the mood for a sewing project, and made these pillow cases for the girls.  I love doing them (have made about 3 for them so far) because they are super easy to do, and the girls love that they can pick out any fabric that they want!  It is a fun way to use that neat character fabric or holiday fabric that you might not want to use for anything else.

Ella picked out Rapunzel flannel fabric.

Abby picked out Cinderella flannel fabric.

Hitch'n a ride...

Nothing beats cruising around the back yard on the back of a tricycle....    

I love the look on Abby's face here.

Abby: "Whoa!"

After Abby got a lift from Ella, then Ella would help Abby to ride the trike back to the porch.  Abby's legs still don't quite  reach the pedals all the way to pedal it, so Ella was a good big sister and would help her out.

I love how Ella's hand is on the back of Abby as she helps her with the bike.  Awwww!

Water + Sidewalk Chalk + Nature = 2 Messy Happy Girls!

The weather has been really nice the last few days and this afternoon the girls wanted to spend the time outside.  We found some old paint brushes, buckets and found the sidewalk chalk and enjoyed some outdoor art.  (It is fun to paint with just water on the driveway!)  Now...for those of you who have known me a long time, might know that nature and messes haven't always been my "thing".  (Who can forget the SSP days of "I don't do dirt"...) But hey - you are only 4 and 2 once!  Might as well make the most of it!  I encouraged it and it was so fun!  I mean, once you get dirty you might as well continue with the fun.  My saying with the girls (which they now say all the time) is "No worries!  You are washable!".   So we had a blast making water paintings, chalk drawings, and it was SO fun as a mom to see the girls discover new things!  Like mixing the chalk with water makes it thicker and more vibrant.  And how they loved digging in the dirt and just enjoyed being kids!   Too bad there wasn't any good thick mud - would have been fun to make some mud pies!  Next time....   =)

The girls "painting".  Hmmm....must be abstract art.  =)

Check out those shins!  But hey, once you are dirty, you are dirty!  Might as well go all out! 

Chalk "paint"

Making "soup" out of water, chalk, leaves, rocks, sticks and dirt.  Mmmmmm....

When the sun was just right, we decided to make shadow letters:

"X"

Two "X"s

"I"

Life is good - get messy!!

New Year, New Blog

Hello!!  Well, I am trying out this new Blogger.  It looks easy to do, however I have spent an hour trying to get it started and am not 100% sure I know what I am doing.  Ha!  So bear with me!   Well a LOT has happened since my last post on the old site, so here is a quick glimpse:

Congratulations!!!  David and Crystal got engaged right before Christmas!  We are THRILLED and are excited to have her join our family.

Crystal and the girls at my parents' house in October.

Merry Christmas!!  

On Christmas Eve we went over to Eric's parents with the whole Wicoff Family.  We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed an early Christmas opening gifts from each other.

Three ADORABLE Christmas girls!!

Then when we got home it was time to prepare for Santa.  Milk and cookies - check!

After the girls went to bed, Santa got to work!  Looks like they were really good this year!

On Christmas morning, Abby was the first one up.  She just was in disbelief over who ate the cookies!

Once Ella was up we had to gate off the living room to get the camera set up.  It was like seeing horses ready to start a race!

Time to open presents!!

The aftermath....

Playing with a favorite toy:  The Bat Cave!!

 We had Eric's parents over for a fun Christmas dinner that evening!  What a wonderful day!!

After Christmas we used some of Abby's money she got to get her her very first "big girl bike"!!  She was SOOOO excited because she has been wanting a "bike like Ella" for a while now.  She has been practicing hard and is having fun riding like a big girl!

Look how happy she is!

The girls have been having fun playing with their new toys and even looking like them. LOL

 10, 9, 8, 7,.......Happy New Year!!!

We rang in 2011 a little early this year so the girls could have fun with the festivities.  Before they went to bed, we had toasted the new year with apple juice in fancy glasses, and then celebrated with lots and LOTS of streamers!!

So that has been life in the Wicoff house for us these last few weeks!!  Hopefully I will get the hang of this blog and it turns out to be as easy as I am told....  We'll see!!