Olivia at 5 Years Old!

Olivia is now the big 5 years old! She's 45 inches tall and weights 46.6 pounds and seems to be growing out of Sofia's hand-me-down 5T clothes. It seems like she's really had a growth spurt in the last few months. Besides how tall she's gotten, she's grown up so much! A few days before her birthday, we were talking about her big day and her growing up and she said "I want to stay little. I don't want to grow up." I didn't explain to her that she didn't really have a choice. She certainly loves being the little sister in many ways and absolutely adores Sofia. Sofia and Olivia play a lot together and get along well. In fact, even when Olivia has a friend over she is usually focused on playing with Sofia more than she is her friend. One of the downsides of being the little sister is that it seems like she is sidelined into having interests that are more important to Sofia. When she was younger, Olivia really loved playing with dolls, mermaids, horses, and dress-up and now she wants to play with dragons, dinosaurs and swords which I don't think she would be interested in if it were up to her. Instead, she'd prefer to play with her sister so she goes along with whatever Sofia suggests and she seems to have fun, but I do wish that she had her own interests.

Olivia is our silly, easy going, rule-follower who likes to make sure everything runs smoothly and everyone gets along. She's also very thoughtful and caring. As I prepared for her birthday party, she came up to me out of nowhere and threw her arms around me and said "Thank you, Mommy, for having a birthday party for me." It was so sweet! If Sofia or someone she knows gets hurt, she is very concerned and always rubs Sofia's back and tells her "it's going to be ok." The night after her dentist visit, she was frantically searching for her "lip gloss" which I didn't really understand until she told me that Dr. Simpson said she "had to use it every night after brushing" and then I realized she was looking for her "floss" and she's used it every night since. She's generally very good at sharing and thinks of others without us prompting her.

After a full week of Kindergarten, Olivia seems to really enjoy school although it is a long and tiring day for her. She loves playing with her best friend, Hannah, every day at recess although she cried when she found out that they aren't in Mrs. Schultz' class together. She still seems a little confused as to why she has to go to school all week, when she's used to going to preschool three days a week, but I think she really enjoys going with Sofia and really loves riding the bus home with Sofia and Antonio. So far, she's doing great and always tells us fun things she's learned that day, like "Mac & Cheese, Everybody Freeze" or a cute song about reading "from the top."

She still sucks her thumb when she's tired, bored or watching something on the computer. With school she seems to do it in the morning since getting up and ready isn't her thing yet. I really wonder who much she sucks it at school. She also loves touching and gently rubbing my belly or back with her other hand. That has always been a comfort to her and she does it when she's tired or really relaxed. She sleeps with "Giraffey" and a bunch of smaller stuffed animals, although Giraffey is her favorite and who she picks to cuddle with when she's tired. The other stuffed animals seem to vary from week to week. She loves "morning juice" in the morning, which is a fruit juice blend that I mix with water, from a character sippy cup. She's a good eater and she loves salmon, cauliflower, pizza, oranges, peaches, spaghetti, pb&j sandwiches and even likes salad and cole slaw. She always eats the frosting off her cupcake first and will then eat the cake part, or even leave it uneaten. She does love her sweets!

Olivia is signed up for another season with the same soccer team and had her first practice last week. She seems to really enjoy it and is fast and pretty good at it. This year her team is no longer called "Purlicious" but changed the name to "Pinkalicious" thanks to Harper, the couch's daughter. It's a cute group of girls and I hope she really has fun with it. She's also going to start piano lessons with James for 30 minutes before Sofia's lesson. Last week James had her at the piano to be sure she knows her right from her left and is comfortable with her ABCs. He said she did great, so her first formal lesson will start next week. After playing with James, she said it was a lot of fun! I hope she continues to enjoy it.

She still loves to swim, although she and Sofia haven't done a lot of it in the week we've been back from Florida. The water temperature is a little cooler too, but I think mainly they are burned out from swimming all summer. They still love their mermaid fins though. Olivia still loves taking baths and really likes taking one with Sofia and playing with horses, unicorns mermaids or dragons in the water together. She sleeps with her favorite lovey, Giraffey, as well as nearly a whole bed-full of stuffed animals that all have their place next to her on the pillow and under the comforter. Sometimes, she barely even has room to lay down to sleep and it's amazing she doesn't fall out of bed for lack of space. Lately, her very favorite thing is for me to read a story while Sofia acts it out. Of course, Sofia acts what I'm reading out in a very silly and crazy way and Olivia laughs and laughs! It's really pretty funny and Sofia gets clever with it.

Olivia's hair is still above her shoulder, thanks to the haircut she gave herself months ago, but is now an even length and can grow out again. I think she looks so cute with it short and she is awesome at always brushing it herself and taking care of it. However, Sofia has had me add small braids that feed into a ponytail or french braids almost every morning before school, and Olivia wants the same thing for her hair. It's just barely long enough that I can usually pull it off, but she says she wants to grow it out and have it long. I look back at photos of her with long hair and I feel like she's a completely different kid! I wonder if it will still be curly when it grows out. I guess we'll find out.

She's growing up into such a thoughtful and fun girl and I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by! I hope Olivia has a great year being 5 and she has so much to look forward to.

Our sweet girl with Giraffey

Filling out the chair when she sits in it!

Swimming with her sister

Olivia loves having double french braids, which is a bit of a challenge when it's so short.

Still loves that thumb

First day of School!

Today was the first day of Kindergarten for Olivia and fourth grade for Sofia. Summer seemed to have zoomed by! I decided to make the girls their own "first day of school" chalkboards on a blank canvas. I used pinterest as a model, but it didn't quite turn out as cute as what is posted (of course). It was fun and I enjoyed asking the girls what they wanted to be and what their favorite things are. I had the girls pick out their outfits the night before and set out all the lunch and snack containers, filled their water bottles and got mentally ready for the early rise and departure. This school year, the bell rings at 7:40am instead of 7:45am and they get out at 2:55pm instead of 2:45pm! A very long day for the girls. We got the girls to bed a little later than we wanted, but early given their bedtime over the summer. They were both in bed by 9:00pm, although Olivia was beyond tired and got into a crying fit about wanting her sister to act out her stories, which she finds hilarious. She finally calmed down when I told her that Sofia would act out her stories tomorrow night and she settled into bed.

We set Sofia's alarm for 6:15am, although she wanted to set it for 5:50am so she could ride the bus with Antonio. I told her that Antonio would be driven to school the first day so she could "sleep in" until 6:15am. Sofia was downstairs, dressed and ready for her day by 6:30am! Of course, she had her book and wanted her old standby: toast with chocolate milk. I also braided her hair and pulled it back so she "looked like Artemis." I'd completely forgotten to have the girls check and make sure their tennis shoes fit, since they would both need them for P.E. Sofia brought out her three pair of tennis shoes and two didn't fit while the 3rd would work for the day. I told her I'd take them to Academy for new shoes after school, and we'll need to decide if their soccer cleats fit too. I got the girls' snacks and lunches ready. I packed both girls pretzels and carrots for their snack and a PB&J sandwich with strawberries and tangerine slices and apple sauce for lunch. I also included a chocolate chip cookie in each of their lunches. After packing their lunches, I was ready to wake up Olivia. CK actually went into her room and tried to convince her she needed to get up. She wasn't buying it at all! Finally, CK got her up and tried to get her dressed into the dress she chose, but she changed her mind and wanted to wear a "new" dress. Thankfully, I'd bought her a striped dress that matches the dress we gave to Sofia for her birthday. It's a size 5-6, so a little big on her but really looks adorable on her and she was happy. She also needs to wear tennis shoes, but she wasn't having anything to do with it. Instead she put on her favorite flower sandals and I put her shoes and socks into her backpack for P.E. Her teachers can deal with that! I also braided her hair just like her sister's, as she requested.

Once both girls were ready, we took them out front with their "first day of school" chalkboards and took photos. They both kept yawning, which was actually cute and I tried to get a photo of them both yawning at the same time. The girls were great sports given that it was 7am and they were both tired. After photos, I offered a few options for Olivia to eat for breakfast, but she kept insisting that she wasn't hungry. She's my kid who prefers eating mid-morning rather than just after she wakes up. She did drink her morning juice though. I grabbed a bowl of cheerios and we headed to school for their first day!

We parked by the church next to the school and walked in with Pritha and Shivani and said "hello" to so many great parents! Sofia and CK held Olivia's hand as they walked down the hall toward Mrs. Schultz' class. Mrs. Schultz was standing outside her room and gave both girls a big hug (Sofia had Mrs. Schultz for 1st grade and she remains one of her very favorite teachers). We were actually the very first family to arrive in Mrs. Schultz' class which will definitely never happen again! It was great to have a few minutes of her time though and she showed Olivia her cubby where her backpack will go and told her to put her lunch box near the front door. Olivia was a little shy but excited to be in school. Antonio, Stacy and Marco were actually the next ones in the classroom and Antonio looked really excited to be there! The rest of the class started arriving and Olivia got less and less sure of herself. She didn't actually cry but said she "didn't want to go to Kindergarten anymore." I finally told her that I needed to check on Sofia and meet her teacher, Miss Murray, since CK took her upstairs a few minutes earlier. To get her to agree, I told her we would stop back by to give her another hug.

I made my way up to Sofia's classroom and met up with her and met Ms. Murray. Sofia was pretty much the exact opposite experience. She gave Ms. Murray a huge hug and found her seat. As we were walking toward the school, Sofia told me she actually ran upstairs and added Green Beup Beup to her backpack before getting into the car! So sweet! I love that she's maturing into a wonderful 9 year old, yet still needs her lovey on her first day of school. We said goodbye to Sofia and wished her a great first day! She was happy as a clam to be in class and looked ready for her day (and the year ahead). Then, we headed back to Olivia's classroom and gave her one final hug. She seemed to be ok and I told her that we looked forward to hearing about her very first day of Kindergarten! CK and I walked back to our car with mixed emotions, but definitely not as sad as when we dropped Sofia off on her very first day of school. We hope they both have a great day and a terrific year ahead! Still can't believe school is back in session.

Olivia is "almost" 5. She loves to have fun, laugh, swim, read stories and fly in the Stearman. Her favorite colors are purple and pink and she loves cows and dragons. She wants to be an astronaut/author when she grows up.

Sofia is 9 years old and loves reading, swimming, laughing and playing with Olivia. She loves all colors, peacocks and dragons. She wants to be an author and screenwriter when she grows up.

Both girls and their signs

Getting the perfect shot!

The girls, Buddy and me

Walking together

Love this photo!

With their Papa

Heading toward Kindergarten!

Mrs. Schultz showing Olivia her seat

Olivia and Mrs. Schultz

Olivia is a little uncertain about this "Kindergarten" thing....

Sofia and Miss Murray

Showing Papa her day ahead

Sofia's classroom

Olivia eating lunch with Charlie (Charlie's mom sent me this photo to show that Olivia was having a good day)

The school bus!

Getting off the bus on their first day!

Happy kids after a fun day!

Love it!

A Day at the Beach

Yesterday morning, Connie offered to call Mary to see if we could drive out to their little house on the beach in St. Augustine, just an hour or so away. The girls were dying to go to the beach and were super excited. However, since it was already 10am, we figured we'd wait until the next day to get an early start so we could really spend the whole day on the sand. Sofia was really upset but got over it once she realize that she'd have more time swimming and playing at the beach.

Today we got up around 8am, ate a quick breakfast and got ready for the drive to St. Augustine and the beach! Connie loaded the car with towels, a beach blanket and a soft-sided cooler with cold waters, granola bars and pretzels. It was great! We drove to Mary and Alan's house, which is adorable! We changed into our swimsuits and walked to the beach! The beaches are so long and made of such hard sand, it almost felt like we were walking on the sidewalk as we picked our spot. Immediately the girls were gone and running in and out of the surf, which wasn't very strong. School had already started in Florida, so the beach was pretty empty and there were no kids. We felt like we almost had the entire place to ourselves with a few people on either side of us but very far away.

After just over an hour, CK headed back to the house since he doesn't really tan but burns instead, even with sunscreen. The girls continued to play and I tried to add sunscreen to them, especially their shoulders, back and faces as often as I could. They would run and dive through the waves and then spend a long time digging in the sand and building sand castles. We also spend a lot of time hunting for shells and Olivia loved picking them up, washing them off in the ocean and giving them to me to hold. We actually found a lot of really good ones and it was fun to hunt for them. The girls would occasionally appear for snacks and/or water and I told them once we were out of both and they got hungry, we'd go back to the house and grab lunch. I read with a towel over my shoulders and a hat on and took a dip in the water when I'd get too hot. It was actually not to bad out, although having an umbrella would have been really great.

Finally at 4pm, CK texted to let me know he was starving. I convinced the girls it was time to head back to the house and they came with little fuss. They didn't want to admit it, but I think they were starving. As we walked back to Alan and Mary's house, Sofia asked "So, now are are going to swim in the pool?" The community has a pool and the girls brought their mermaid tails to use, but I told them we were done. The plan was to rinse off, change back into clothes, go to an early dinner and head back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. She was a little sad that we'd have to leave the beach, but they had a great day.

We headed over to Saltwater Cowboys for an early dinner, which Connie and CK had recommended. We were all very hungry, thirsty and sun-drenched and the food was delicious! After eating, we loaded back into the car and headed back to the farm. Olivia was asleep in no time while Sofia read. Unfortunately, I hadn't been as consistent with the sunscreen application as I should have been and both girls were pretty sunburned on their backs. Luckily Connie had some aloe spray which they both said made it feel a lot better. Feel terrible for the sunburn, but had such a fun and relaxing day at the beach and I love how much fun the girls have in the sand and ocean!

CK getting comfortable

Starting off playing in the sand

My view - so peaceful!

Sunscreen girl!

Chasing birds

Sunscreen big sister!

Jumping in the surf

Just a few of the shells we found

Having fun in the sand/ocean as the tide slowly comes in

Who is that caped woman?!

Playing in the ocean together

Girls after a very fun day in the sand and surf!

A much-needed snooze after an early dinner

Spending a little time reading on our drive home

Sofia's Birthday Party

We'd gone back and forth on throwing Sofia a birthday party partially because when I'd ask her about it she was pretty non-committal and also because most of Sofia's friends seem to be traveling and out of town in late July. Originally we thought of doing a swim party at our house as we've done before but it's actually a lot of work and it's so hot for parents to be sitting outside. Plus, with CK's parents in town he really wanted to go flying with his Dad on Saturday. About two weeks before Sofia's birthday I was looking at Facebook and saw photos of a 10 year old girl's birthday party at The Wild Nest which is an art studio in Colleyville. I haven't been to The Wild Nest but my book club went a few months back and they loved it. Plus, the pictures of the studio look amazing! I called and talked with Carla, the co-owner and we set up a paint-your-own unicorn painting party on the Friday after Sofia's birthday from 4pm to 7pm.

Once I set up the time and date I sent out an Evite to Sofia's friends: Shivaji, Clementine, Emily from school, Kelley, Emily from soccer, Gabrielle, Emma, Milani, Alexa and Chloe. All her friends said yes except for Alexa and Chloe who both planned to be out of town. Since the party would be during dinnertime, I decided to have Chik-Fil-A chicken nuggets, superfood salad (one of my favorites), watermelon, blueberry and strawberry fruit salad, pretzels and apple juice, fruit punch or water. Instead of a cake I decided to get the character cookies from Market Street and asked them to decorate them with unicorns. They turned out so cute! I also bought some mini chocolate cupcakes for a little variety and for those who prefer chocolate.

We arrived just before 4pm and set out the food and balloons, thanks to Connie, CK Sr, Michelle and my CK. Michelle is always the first to arrive anywhere she goes and it was great to have an extra set of hands to bring everything inside. The Wild Nest is even more overwhelming and awesome in person than in pictures! It's so decorative and over-the-top and reminded me of something my Mom would dream up! I loved it! All the girls arrived at 4pm and the party started!

Carla set out a blank canvas, a plate with dollops of paint they kids would be using, paintbrushes, a cup of water and paper towels at each kid's seat. All the girls found a seat and the painting party started. Just before everyone arrived, Carla showed Sofia several different unicorn paintings to chose from and she picked a really fun one to paint. The girls got started and Carla was great at explaining what to do as they painted. Unfortunately, Olivia didn't take part in the painting and preferred to hang out with her Grandma and Grandpa in the back seating area. I thought that she would either really be excited to paint and be a part of the party or be too shy and tired to join. She and Sofia spent almost the entire day swimming with their new mermaid tales and she was tired and wasn't interested in joining in. I considered having her take a nap earlier that day but we were too busy and the time got away from us. She was content to sit on her Grandma's lap, eat pretzels and play with my iPhone while the girls painted.

Carla walked the girls through the unicorn painting and they all were awesome at paying attention and following her directions. In about an hour, each girl had their completed unicorn painting and they all looked awesome! Even little Emily, who is 6 months younger than Olivia, painted with the group and did an awesome job without any help from Carla or her mom! I was hoping with Emily there that Olivia would want to join, but she didn't. After the girls were done with their paintings, they took off their smocks and old t-shirts and headed to the seating area where Olivia, Connie and CK Sr were sitting. Unfortunately CK had a board meeting that evening in Fort Worth and only stayed for the first 45 minutes of the party before he had to leave. Sofia sat in one of the chairs and the girls piled around her on the couch and even on the floor while she opened presents from her friends. She got so many great presents, all of which are right up her alley! She got a Toys R Us gift card from Shivaji, Mini Treats sowing kit from Clementine, Magnus Chase book and scratch tiles from school Emily, The Frog Princess and Valerie books and a Harry Potter coloring book from Kelley, a Barnes and Nobles gift card from Gabrielle and little Emily, a stained glass dragon art kit and large Darla dragon stuffed animal as well as a small Darla dragon stuffed animal for Olivia from soccer Emily, an art portfolio, Rainbow Rocks doll, paintable animal figures and bead and butterfly necklace from Emma, and a gift card to Half Priced Books from Milani. She got so many great gifts from her friends! She also got a paint your own plastic glitter horses and kinetic sand from Antonio and Luca.

After she opened her gifts and looked at all of her great things, the girls went back into the painting area to pick up a plate of food and sit down at the table where they painted. While Sofia was opening her gifts, Carla had cleaned up all the painting supplies and moved the finished unicorn paintings in the middle of the table so the girls could eat. After eating, Carla told the girls that there were birds hidden throughout the art studio and she wanted them to count how many each of them could find. I think Shivaji found over 70 while Sofia found around 60! It was hard to believe there were that many birds around the studio, but once you started looking birds were everywhere.

Once the girls were done with their search, I moved the unicorn cookies and cupcakes to the art table and we sang Happy Birthday to Sofia. The girls loved the cookies and before we knew it they and the mini cupcakes were gone! We took a group photo of the girls with their paintings and they all turned out so cute! The girls' moms started showing up and Sofia thanked each of her friends and gave them a thank you bag that included a box of colored pencils, a blank notebook to doodle in and several sheets of butterfly and fantasy coloring pages. She had written a note on each bag that read "Thank you for coming to my party. Love, Sofia" None of the parents had even heard of The Wild Nest before and we all talked about doing a mom's painting night out after school starts. It's such a fun place.

After all the moms and friends left, we loaded up our car and thanked Carla for a fantastic party! She actually told me that it was the best group of girls she's had for a birthday party! The girls were really awesome and respectful and it was a great party. I think because not all the girls knew each other and there were a few girls from Sofia's soccer team who don't know her from school as well as friends who don't know Sofia from school or soccer. They all got along well and I think everyone had a fun evening. As we drove off, Sofia said it was the "best party ever." I sure thought it was - it was so easy since Carla made it clear that her goal is to have the parents enjoy the party without having to manage anything. It was great! Ironically as I drove home I realized that I'd never payed Carla so I ended up returning to pay her! What a great party and experience!

Happy Birthday unicorn cookies and mini chocolate cupcakes

The Wild Nest entrance

The girls getting started on their unicorns

School Emily, Sofia and Shivani

Gabrielle and her little sister Emily

Olivia hanging out with her Grandma

School Emily painting

Shivani

Clementine

Emma working hard

Kelley, who liked to use a lot of paint

Soccer Emily

The birthday food

Sofia's unicorn coming together

Carla teaching the girls how to paint their unicorn

Olivia checking out Sofia's progress

Sweet soccer friends!

Unicorn cookies - and they are even better than they look!

Olivia and me watching Sofia's painting

Grandpa, Grandma and Olivia

Sofia starts opening presents

Darla the dragon!

Sofia and her sweet friends after opening all of her presents

Happy Birthday, Sofia!

The girls and their masterpieces!

The girls with Carla

With Sofia and her unicorn!

With Grandpa and Grandma