Girl's Weekend!

For President's Weekend, CK and Sofia hatched a plan to fly to Taos, New Mexico with Jack, a classmate of Sofia's and his dad, Chad, so they could all go skiing together. It would be Sofia's first real weekend of skiing aside from when we visited Taos while I was newly pregnant with Olivia and Sofia spent a day in ski school when she was about 3 1/2. She enjoyed it then although she doesn't remember it now. She was excited to try skiing out and to get away for a weekend with her Papa. She and Jack don't really play together at school but they get along well and do play when we get together for dinner.

Meanwhile, Olivia and I hatched our own plan for a fun girl's weekend! The skiers actually left first thing Friday morning, so Sofia and Jack missed school that day, which was nearly as exciting as skiing to Sofia! Before I took Olivia to school, Sofia gave her sister a hug and said "When I get back, we're going to play Jedi light sabers like we've never played Jedi light sabers before!" We said goodbye to Sofia and Papa and I know they will have a fantastic time skiing and spending the weekend together. I took Olivia to school and told her I looked forward to spending a fun gals' weekend together.

After Olivia got off the school bus, she immediately asked if Hannah could come over, which is basically her first question off the bus every day. I told her we had a fun weekend planned and that she would have Hannah over on Sunday evening for a sleepover. Olivia ate a snack and played and then we got ready for dinner and to go see Fancy Nancy the Musical at the Artisan Theatre, which is a children's theater in Hurst. She wanted to "dress up" for the musical and wore her fancy red dress and black tights and black boots. She was so cute and I love how much she enjoys looking nice! I let Olivia decide where she wanted to eat and she originally chose Gloria's, which surprised me since we haven't eaten there in ages. But, as we parked she changed her mind and said she wanted sushi, which is right next door. I was really glad she changed her mind since we haven't eaten sushi in ages either! We enjoyed our miso soup, edamame and split a California roll, which was all perfect.

After dinner, we drove to Artisan Theatre and found our seats. The theatre is tiny, so all the seats are really great. The show was super cute and well done and Olivia loved it. There was a lot of singing which was often hard to understand, but still a lot of fun. The show was only an hour and when the lights came on Olivia asked if it was intermission, since we recently saw the two musicals which were considerably longer. At the end of the show Olivia was able to meet Nancy and I got a cute picture of them together.

We headed home and Olivia played for a bit and then we got into our pajamas and read in my bed for a bit before Olivia fell asleep. I told her I was going to read for a bit but she needed to fall asleep and she was literally asleep within minutes scuttled right up next to me. She has only slept in bed with me a handful of times when CK has been traveling but I usually put her to bed first and then join her later, once she's asleep. But I know she loves her sleep, so she falls asleep very easily.

On Saturday, after a great night's sleep we woke up and got ready for Olivia's first soccer game of the season. The game started at 9am and her coach wanted everyone there 20 minutes early, so we had to get up and moving pretty quickly. It was Olivia's first game as a Rocket and I was excited to see how the girls played together as a team, since her couch is great at teaching them the game and coaching soccer. They did a great job and had fun and Olivia scored 4 goals! She's so cute on the field and always has a smile on her face while she's playing. After the game was over, we returned home so Olivia could change and then headed to the movie theater to watch Rogue One. She decided to wear the same pretty red dress and boots for the movie too. She would definitely be the best dressed girl at the movies! She has been pestering me for weeks to see it since Sofia got to see it twice. So, I promised we'd watch it over the weekend and this was really our last chance to see it before it left the theaters.

We drove to the Grapevine Mills movie theater since it was one of the last to have Rogue One. Plus, we could eat at the theater while we watched the movie. We found our seats and were impressed that it was fairly full. We ordered lunch - Olivia chose the cheese flatbread and I had the cobb salad wrap. It was all really good. After, we enjoyed a HUGE bowl of popcorn. Olivia enjoyed the movie, although the highlights for her were the scenes with Darth Vader and the final scene with Princess Leia. I'm not totally sure how much she got out of the movie, but she was quiet and enjoyed it. After the movie, we stopped in Central Market to pick up a rotisserie chicken, macaroni and cheese and roasted carrots for dinner.

After the grocery store, we walked Buddy and Mia and Lelu, who are staying with us over the weekend while Marco, Stacy and their boys are in New York for the long weekend. We stuck to the neighborhood and then returned home and Olivia decided she needed to put on her mermaid tail and swim! Crazy girl!! She got into her "shells" as she calls her mermaid bikini top and then put on her bikini bottoms and swim tail. Of course she wanted me to take a few pictures before lowering her into the water. Let's just say the swim didn't last long! Even though it's one of the warmest days of the year and is absolutely beautiful weather, the water is COLD! She maybe lasted two minutes before she was ready to get out and get a warm bath.

After warming up, Olivia and I headed out again and got a pedicure. We actually wanted to go to my favorite place, but when we got there it was going to be a 45 minute wait, so we headed across the street to Castle Nail Salon, which I've never been to and was shocked by the interior! It is completely decadent inside with chandeliers and fancy furniture and wallpaper. It was surprising. Olivia and I picked out our color and headed back for our pedicures. She picked a bright pink color and then asked if she could get a flower painted on her big toe. It really turned out cute, except the lady had to fix it after she smudged it. We finished up and she took a picture of our toes together. We headed home and had our dinner that we picked out at Central Market. After dinner, we cuddled up on the couch and watched the live action Cinderella and had a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream each. It was delicious. After the movie, we headed to bed.

Unfortunately, Saturday night was terrible for Olivia who had developed a really bad cough that lasted all night. I don't think she slept at all, which means I didn't sleep much either. At one point, she woke up at 3am and sort of wandered around the room before I gave her Advil, which didn't really seem to help her. Poor girl.

On Sunday morning, we got up and headed to Meeting where Olivia fell asleep immediately in my lap. She slept the entire hour. We had lunch at Central Market where we picked up a little more macaroni and cheese for that night with Hannah, since Olivia really ate up what we bought the day before. After lunch, we headed to Skate Town for her classmates, Olivia C's, birthday party. We arrived late and Olivia spent about 10 minutes on roller skates before she decided she was done. She got off the roller skate rink after one slow round of me pulling her along and said "This was the dumbest idea I've ever said yes to." She took her skates off and put her shoes on and we headed over to the tables where all the kids sat down, sang Happy Birthday to Olivia C and then enjoyed cupcakes and ice cream. Olivia kept asking if she could go to the nurse, since I'd told her after lunch that I'd take her to Minute Clinic to see if she had something contagious. She didn't have a fever, but her cough was terrible and I think she really felt miserable.

We ended up leaving the party a little early and headed to Minute Clinic, where Olivia met with a really friendly and helpful nurse. She tested her for flu, which came back negative and ultimately suggested a cough suppressant. I gave some to her once we arrived home and it seemed to help her. Hannah was scheduled to arrive in about 2 hours and Olivia couldn't wait to have her arrive! She only asked every five minutes when Hannah would arrive!

All dressed up and ready for Fancy Nancy!

Showing off her "crown" ring

Olivia and I are ready for the play!

Sushi with my girl!

Fancy Nancy

Ready for the show to begin

She's completely mesmerized.

Olivia with Nancy after the show

With the shark and Nancy's mom

Olivia is ready for her first soccer game as a Rocket

Her very first goal!

Taking the ball down the field

Olivia with two of her best buddies from preschool - Collins and Hannah

My adorable mermaid ready for a swim

Such a cutie!

Ready for a pedicure!

Letting her nails dry

Our toes!

Hannah Sleeps Over....

Hannah arrived at our house at 5pm and Olivia was sleep on the couch! After having such a terrible night sleeping last night, Olivia really needed a good nap, so it was perfect when she fell asleep on the couch about an hour or more before Hannah arrived. Once Hannah came inside, Olivia slowly woke up and was super excited her best friend was finally here! They immediately ran upstairs and started playing dress up. Pretty much each time Hannah is over at our house, they end up playing dress up upstairs. They love it! At one point, I heard them both crying hysterically and ran upstairs to discover that they had gone out to the balcony and the door closed on them and locked them outside. They were so upset, even though I made it to them in minutes. They finally calmed down and I showed them how I unlocked the door so if they closed the door again it wouldn't lock behind them again. I'm pretty sure they didn't trust me and ended up staying inside after that episode.

After playing dress up for a long time they decided to color, another favorite thing to do when they are together. They requested coloring pages be printed of their favorite princesses and characters. They had so much fun and I think they could color for hours together. They took one break and jumped on the trampoline before dinner. For dinner the girls ate macaroni and cheese, grilled chicken and broccoli. After dinner, we popped popcorn and the girls headed upstairs to watch the real life Cinderella, which Hannah has never seen. It's actually one of Olivia (and my) favorite movies. Not surprisingly, they both loved it. I checked on them about 30 minutes before the movie was over and Hannah said she was really tired. I told her we could turn the movie off and they could go to bed, but she wanted to watch the rest of the movie when I told her that there was only 30 minutes left. The girls were so cute sitting together on one chair cuddled up with their loves and blankets.

Once the movie was over, the girls got into their pajamas and brushed their teeth and I gave Hannah her melatonin, even though she probably didn't really need it. She looked really sleepy, although I know that girl has unlimited energy! I tucked the girls into Olivia's bed and read them a story before telling them to have sweet dreams! It was 9:30pm when I headed out of Olivia's room and I was a little apprehensive about how long the girls would be up and giggly, but I literally didn't hear a peep out of them until 8am the next day! I couldn't believe it!

I made the girls pancakes and scrambled eggs which they loved and gobbled up. After they finished, they started coloring and making up stories together. They had so much fun and I love how much they enjoy each other and get along. They really are best friends!

Olivia is actually napping under there somewhere

Playing dress up together

Breakfast!

A little bit of coloring before getting dressed

Olivia's First Soccer Game

Olivia had her first soccer game with her new team, the Rockets, on Saturday at 9am. When we signed Olivia up for soccer this season, we requested that she be transferred to a new team after Coach Ryan decided not to coach the Pinkalicious team. Olivia did well on that team and enjoyed it, but there were two girls on the team whose parents would bribe their girls into scoring a number of goals each game for ice cream. Because of this, those girls would often strip the ball from Olivia as she was headed to the goal so they could score or they would fight their team mates for the ball mid-field. Olivia noticed this behavior and was really upset by it by the end of the season. Likewise, except for one set of parents, I never really felt like I had a connection with anyone on the team. Coach Ryan is such a sweet man audit seemed like a perfect opportunity to switch teams when he decided to coach softball instead.

Olivia was placed on the Rockets soccer team and she went to her first practice two weeks before their first game to meet Coach Matt and the five other girls on the team. She was very reluctant to go to her first practice and meet the new girls and didn't want to go at all. CK actually took her to practice and we all ate a quick dinner before they headed off to the 6pm-7pm practice. Sofia disappeared and returned to the dinner table a few minutes later with the sweetest card she made for Olivia. It read: "Olivia, You will score so many goals, the coaches won't no wat to think. You are the best sister ever. You can do it!! And remember, spread your wings, take up the challenge, be strong, and always, most important, believe in yourself or no one else will. Your loving sister, Sofia" Of course, Sofia explained that she got her inspiration from dragons. It was so sweet and thoughtful and it really helped Olivia to have a good attitude for her practice.

It was really a perfect day for soccer and five of the six players showed up so they each had a lot of great playing time. The game got started and Olivia actually took the ball and scored within the first five minutes. She's so cute to watch and very good at going after the soccer ball. Oftentimes she gives the soccer ball a good kick or two but then doesn't continue with it down the field when she really can and should. But, she always has such a great smile on her face and really enjoys playing. Coach Matt is fantastic with the girls and is very quiet and calm with the girls and always giving them excellent advice on strategy and where they should be standing. He also really knows how to play soccer and the girls are really lucky to have him as their coach. Olivia ended up scoring four goals and the coach's daughter, Lucy, scored a few as did one of the other girls. There was one girl on the other team who was really very good and would take the ball and score, but the Rockets would have won if we'd kept score. After the game, the girls gave each other high fives and then got a capri sun and a granola bar. It was so fun and the girls were really good and had fun. After the game, we walked over to field 12 where we met up with Olivia's best friend, Hannah, and another friend from Noah's Ark, Collins. Collins and Hannah are on the same team, the Unicorns, but they are both a year older so they are playing in the U7 league.

After the game ended, Olivia took off her cleats, socks and shin guards and we headed home to change. Such a fun morning and I'm excited for a great soccer season ahead of us!


Sofia's incredibly thoughtful and sweet note for her sister

All ready for her first soccer game as a Rocket

Our sweet girl!

Warming up before the game

Scoring her first goal of the season, about five minutes into the game

Throwing the ball in bounds

Taking a little break from playing

Getting a little halftime pep talk from Coach Matt

Playing defense

After a great game!

Collins, Olivia and Hannah!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Since Valentine's Day fell on a Tuesday night, we decided to make a nice dinner at home. Thankfully it rained all day, or else Olivia would normally have soccer practice. Instead, the girls got home following their Valentine's party and played for a while before we started making dinner. CK headed out and came back with the most beautiful bouquet of roses I've ever seen! They are so gorgeous and so thoughtful!

The day before, I'd bought an aged ribeye for CK and three filet mignons for the girls and me. We normally get three ribeyes and split them between the four of us, but we always have so much meat left over. I figured the filets might be a better size for us and CK could enjoy an aged ribeye. I also made twice baked potatoes, which I added sour cream, cream cheese, cheese and bacon and put it all together on Monday afternoon. It was easier to make it ahead of time and then just put it in the oven. My Mom used to make twice baked potatoes every time we had company and they were always such a favorite of mine. A few weeks ago we had them again when we received them from Omaha Steaks as a gift from friends. The girls loved them then and I figured it would be a nice treat. I also planned to grill asparagus.

Unfortunately, it was still a little windy and it caused our bbq to burn out a few minutes after CK would relight it. It was very frustrating. We finally decided to sear the steaks on the stove and then bake them in the oven. It always taste better from the grill, but it wasn't a possibility unfortunately. They tasted great!

We sat down to eat around 6:30pm and the girls loved it all, although they did turn their noses up at the twice baked potatoes! While they ate, the also enjoyed opening up their gifts. They each had a little box full of candies, gum, socks, stickers and little toys. They also got a huge Hershey Kiss, since Sofia had been hinting at it for weeks. After enjoying our delicious dinner meal, our dessert was ready. I made chocolate lava cake and served it with vanilla ice cream and fresh whipped cream. I have a recipe for chocolate lave cake that my Uncle gave me but I couldn't find it! So frustrating, since I've made it a bunch of times and it's really easy. I ended up pulling up a recipe on Pinterest that ended up being easy and delicious. It turned out so good and we all gobbled it up!

The girls also received a box from their Grandpa and Grandma and they opened it up to find more Valentine's treats, including a little teddy bear for each girl and little toys. It was so sweet! CK called his parents so the girls could wish Grandpa and Grandma a Happy Valentine's Day and also to thank them for the goodies. They too had a low-key Valentine's Day. My friend Sian had also send each of the girls a large envelope that included a Valentine's card, stickers and coloring books. It was all so sweet!

After dinner, dessert and cleaning up, we put the girls to bed and wished them sweet Valentine's dreams!

Two excited girls ready for Valentine's gifts and dinner!

The Valentine's Gifts from CK and me

The beautiful roses CK gave me!!

Dinner!

Yum!!

Valentine's Dog!