Bella's first fun run

Last weekend Todd and I did a 5K (Todd pushed the girls in the double wide), and before the 5k, there was a 1 mile Fun Run. We saw another family entering their 4 year old daughter, so we decided to sign Bella up, too. Bella has done a 50 yard dash, but never a mile. She has certainly walked that but we wondered if she would run it. So, we entered her, and I walk/ran it with her. She really did walk most of it with spurts of running. But like a true champion when she saw the finish line, she ran it in. I was so proud of her. And she has been proud of herself, too. She's told everyone to from her Popo to the lady at the restaurant that she ran a 1 mile race, and that her new pink shoes made her go super fast.  Todd and Becca assisted by taking photos and cheering us on.

B stories

Bella has a difficult time with the state of disarray that our van is typically in, and sometimes it gets to be too much for her and she has to say something about the mess. The last time she commented on the mess,  I said well you keep bringing stuff in here and you never take it back out. To that Bella commented, "You bring stuff in here, too, Mommy." Nuf Said.

Becca has always been quite a chatter. One of the first phrases I can remember her saying was while Chris and Julie were here. She stood in the kitchen and cried, "But I don't want to share." So much of what is says is clear, in fact she can now say Bella and not Beya. But she still can't say "sweaty". The other night Becca asked me, "Mommy, why you so sweaty?" I wish you could see it. She rolls her tongue when she says it, and it reminds me of those Jack-in-Box commercials where Jack's mouth just becomes a squiggle when he tries to say chipolte. 

Bella thinks herself quite the fashionista. If she had it her way she would exclusively wear pink dresses. So yesterday morning when I paired a turquoise blue shirt and necklace with black pants, I think she just didn't know what to make of it. She crinkled up her little nose in disapproval and said, "Mommy, your pants don't match your shirt OR your necklace." Me, "Yes honey, but black goes with everything." I could see her filing that bit of information away.  So today I decided to test her fashion sense, and I genuinely asked her opinion on which necklace I should wear today. And you know something, I think she got it right. 

Becca is the master of  faces. Always has been. From better beer face to "the Look". Now she has the silly face and the suprised face. And she performs on command, sometimes.  In between each time she gives "the Look" she'll roll her head back and laugh.

Some of Becca's favorite phrases right now, "I can do it. I can do it.", "I fell down.", "Daddy's turn." "Why Bella crying?"  "Mine. Mine! That's MINE!" 

More Easter

Easter was a little bit wet, but we still managed to have a egg hunt at Grammy's and Popo's.  We changed things up a little bit this year. We had Easter lunch at Grammy and Popo's, and PoPo bar-b-que'd. It was a refreshing change. And the cousins brought Cascarones to the egg hunt, and it FREAKED Becca out. She could not understand why everyone was heading each other on the head.  Todd had to comfort her a little. 

Rabbit Season

We had a lot of fun again this Easter. At the mom's club Easter Festival we almost got blown away, so we didn't stay too long. Todd's friends from Michigan were visiting at the time, so they came along for the hunt with their daughter Leah. 

Snow Days

Ok, so this is old news, but since the grand plan is to print this blog out for my girls as a quasi- scrapbook, I think I should put an entry in her that covers all the snow we had this winter.  The best snowfall came on  February 11, 2010 (several years ago we had a good snow day on Feb 14th).  So, as with all good snowfalls around here, this one took everyone by surprise. Let me rephrase, the 12 inches of snow took EVERYONE by surprise.  It started with school getting canceled at noon. So I picked Bella up early, sent mom home, and bundled the girls up for some romping around in the snow. We, along with the neighbors played in the snow and built a snow man. We came inside for no less than an hour when Todd came bursting into the house at 4:00 wanted to play in the snow. So I threw all our non-water repellent clothes in the drier, wrapped the girls feet in sarin wrap (when I threw the girls in the tub before Bella's feet looked really red and she said they hurt when she put them in the water and then she told me that it felt like needles), and we headed back outside.  We built a snow slide that time. The following day was a snow day for me and the girls, and we went back outside and made snow angels up and down the golf course.  I feel and got up so many times that then muscles in my neck were sore. 

And then as my plane from Honduras landed, it was snowing - March 21st. That time we just went outside for a little bit and just made snow tracks. We were hunting bears.

Sound bites

At night after I brush her teeth and read her a book and turn off her light, I ask Bella who she wants to pray for. "Grammy, daddy and all the loved people." That is supposed to be "all the people we love". But I like all the loved people better. 

And one night Bella told me that she wanted to pray for Preston. Bella proceeded to tell me that Preston was still a baby but he was with the big kids and he was having trouble being whinny since he just turned 3. 

Last night when we asked Becca if she farted, she said, "Yeah, I poop-pooped gas."

Tonight as I tucked Bella into bed, Bella said to me, "Mommy, I love you so much. And in the morning I'll have a surprise for you."

Becca has gotten into the Dora/Diego scene now and knows all the characters.  So when Daddy showed up with a Boots and Swipper doll, both girls got really excited. And although Daddy bought the Boots doll for Becca (b/c for a time Bella called Becca Boots), somehow Becca got stuck with the Swipper doll. So as she is running around with the doll in hand we hear Becca saying, "You'll never find it now, hehehe." 

Mema's sewing magic

Mema and Grandpa just came for a visit. And this time around I told Mema, I was putting her to work. I'd recently been to a party where they were charging and an arm and a leg for what amounted to handmade outfits. You could pick the fabric and styles and embellishments and fork over a fortune. Instead, I thought, I know someone who can do this. So Grace and I went shopping at Joanne's one night, and I tried to pin and cut the material (Much more complicated than I thought. Yet another hobby I do not seem to be suited for). Grace did all the sewing, and a lot of the cutting for that matter. The outfits were a success! Bella showed up to school on Monday wearing one of her two outfits, and the ladies at the school immediately noticed. I proudly said, "I know aren't they cute. Bella's Mema made them."