Writing

These days, Ro is all about writing. Her name, words, anything! She loves to sit and draw and write. A year ago, everything she wrote was backward, with the letters backward (like in a mirror) and the letters written from the right side of the page to the left. (If I haven't noted it before, Rory is a leftie.) Now she gets it right most of the time and loves to write notes and mail them to people, really hoping she gets something in the mail in return.

UPDATE:  Rory is sitting here with me right now, looking at the new blog posts.  When I showed her this picture of her and Olivia working next to each other, she said, "Oh, that's the day we cut our hair!"  Yep, they cut their hair at school that day for the first time.  When Olivia's dad got the call (Olivia's hair had a chunk missing; Rory's was not noticeable), he said, "Well, I guess better now than right before the prom!"

Ro at school

Catching up

I am a bad blogger.

I am actually writing this on May 26, 2010, having apparently taken an unintended 5 month absence from this blog.  So, now I am going to catch up.  You'll see some back-dated posts as I fill in the gaps!  Happy catching up!

Text Message From Jason

Jason is home with Rory today and I am at work.  Here is the text I just received:

"Five yrs ago, if someone told me I'd be in a pink tent in my blue house w/ a lap harp on my lap, I'd have them committed.  Now I'd call them a fortune teller."

Sledding

Somehow, Kendall knew intuitively the only good 30-minute slot for sledding of our whole trip to Dubuque for Christmas, and we got to take advantage of it.  Ro was only going with me on the sled at first, but by the end, she was jumping on and going down solo!

Holiday Party

We have a lot of blogging to catch up on, but here are a few pictures from my work holiday party. 

What Everyone's Getting for Presents

At dinner tonight I asked Rory to help me think about what to get everyone for presents.  Not to ruin the surprise, but here's what Rory said everyone would want, in Rory's exact words:

Mimi: a picture of me
Poppy: a picture of Ishkabible and Albequerque
Grandma: a  snowman
Papa: a hat
Ella:  a snowman hat
Ruthie: a pair of shoes
Grandma Cam: a tutu, ballet shoes and a magic wand
Grandpa:  the same thing
Kinsey: a picture of Kendall
Kendall:  a picture of her cat
Aunt Theresa:  a princess thing
Uncle Jeff:  a bad guy thing
Daddy: let me whisper because he's in the next room ... a race car!
Sydney (the cat): a bone
Sharon and Davey: race cars for them
Eleanor & Myron:  glass flowers that are purple and pink
Baby Olivia (Mike & Melissa's daughter):  A Signing Time DVD and some food

What do those golden arches mean?

As many of you know, we have gone out of our way to make sure Rory gets healthy food.  She is 3 1/2 and she has ever had fast food.  I'm not saying that to say in any way that we are better parents than those whose kids have had fast food, just as context for this little story from this morning.

Driving to school, Rory decided today that she wanted to know what everything was that we were passing. 

"What's that, Mommy?"  "A phone store."
"What's that?"  "A bank."
"What's that?"  "Starbucks."  (I will note, she DOES recognize Sbux, thanks to Mommy!)

Then we come up to the golden arches, which in this morning's gray rain, seem to be glowing like a landing strip! 
"What's that, Mommy?"  "Um, that's McDonald's, honey.  It's a fast food restaurant.  And look, there's a school bus!" (trying to distract)

And I am interrupted by "NO Mommy!  That's is NOT a fast food restaurant.  I know because I've been in there!"

And then I remember ... "Oh, you're right Rory.  That's a place where we return movies, isn't it?"
"Yes, Mommy."

Thank god for RedBox. 

Ballet Sample

For the family who have been requesting video ...

First Ballet Class

I'm not sure who had more fun ... Rory or me. Of course, over the last couple of weeks we've had some prep to do. We had to buy a leotard. Rory convinced me she needed two ... "I need one to wear TO class, Mommy, and I need another one to wear to practice at HOME." Who can argue?? Then we had to get tights. And finally, to a real ballet store to get ballet shoes. And then there was teaching her the importance of "ballerina hair".

The day finally came and we went to the studio. Rory was greeted by Rebecca, our neighbor, who was assisting with Rory's class that day. (She's in the rose tank top below). When class began, she dove right in. Rory's pretty easy to spot in the pictures, being the only one in black. Enjoy!

Preparing to Fly

OK, she's not really going to fly. Today was her first ballet class, and when getting ready, she decided she needed her fairy wings. Luckily, we were able to convince her to take them off before heading out the door. She has been looking forward to this class for WEEKS.

Bad Influence

Rory is officially a bad influence.  I just got a call from her teacher, telling me that he looked over and saw Rory's friend, Olivia, cutting big chunks out of her own hair with scissors!  When he went over to her, she said, "Well Rory was doing it!".  Apparently Rory only snipped a few strands, nothing noticeable.  I don't think the same can be said for Olivia.  Luckily Olivia's parents are laid back, and her dad's response was, "Well, better now than right before the prom!"  :)

Blueberry Pancakes

Rory was SO excited to carry the pancakes to the table this morning. I was SO nervous the pancakes weren't going to make it for the table, for any number of reasons.

Girlie as it gets!

Despite all my best efforts, this little girl is as girlie as they come! Right now, it's all about princesses and ballerinas. Last week was a bit of a banner week, as she got 3 new princess dresses AND found out that she gets to start taking ballet next month.

Botanical Gardens

It was a BEAUTIFUL Saturday so we headed to the Botanical Gardens. Rory loves this place!

"I'm beautiful!"

Rory and Olivia

This is Olivia, Rory's friend. Olivia is now almost 5 months old and Rory is figuring out how to play with someone so little. Rory was nice enough to share her pool with Olivia one hot day this summer, along with Mike and Melissa. And recently, Rory even shared her blanket to let Olivia watch some "Signing Time" with her!

Just hanging around the garden

Yeah, we're just picking tomatoes, checking out the cucumbers, etc. You know, isn't this how everyone dresses to garden??

"I'll be here all week!"

Rory is becoming quite a little musician. Here she is doing a concert for all her friends in the living room.

One Dollar's Worth of Happiness

You know, they say in this economy a dollar won't get you anything. I beg to differ. If you agree, then you have never seen a kid with a one dollar snow cone. It is amazing how much happiness one dollar's worth of shaved ice and neon-glow liquid corn syrup can provide!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

All at once, we are mobile. Last week Grandma surprised Rory by sending her a scooter. Then, we went to Iowa for Fourth of July weekend and someone there asked Rory to take a bike home with her! Wow, this kid is riding in style now. Each night after dinner she isn't sure which to start with.

By the way, if anyone is looking for a scooter for the 2-5 year old set, I can't recommend this one enough. It has 3 wheels and is directed by the kid shifting their weight, rather than steering with their hands. It's AWESOME! It's the Mini Kick Scooter by Micro.


Oh, and for those of you who want to know why she's crying in the last picture, BECAUSE SHE'S THREE! But isn't it just hysterical to see her with the helmet, the tutu, and crying?! Yep, I'm sick.

Fourth of July

We headed to Dubuque for the Fourth of July. It was our first trip up since Christmas. Not everyone may know this, but it's been one heck of a spring for my family. My dad had open heart surgery in April and has been recovering all spring with the help of my mom. And two days before we were coming home for the Fourth, Mom took a fall and shattered her ankle, resulting in 4 hours of reconstructive surgery with pins, plates, etc. So, this weekend was spent visiting Mom in her bed, where she has to stay for at least three weeks with an elevated foot.

Rory didn't injure Mom, though, which is good, and she enjoyed, as always, getting to see Kinsey and Kendall.