Just For Fun!

I realized as Ella was getting ready for gymnastics class today that Lia also wore the same leotard for her first class six years ago.  So, I had to find Lia's picture to compare to Ella's picture just to show how much these two, little girls look alike at any stage of their lives!  I know I have said this before, but I will say it again...they could have been twins!  So, here are both of my four-year old girls wearing the same leotard while standing in the same gymnasium on their first day of gymnastics class almost six years apart to date!

Lia's first day of gymnastics on October 1, 2012.

And Ella's first day of gymnastics on September 28, 2018.

Ella's First Gymnastics Class

Although Ella started taking swim lessons and ballet class last school year, today was her first day of gymnastics class!  We enrolled her back in the Y for her entire PreK school year so that she can take swim lessons two mornings a week when she is not at preschool.  However, since gymnastics is the second class that is offered with her membership, I figured that it would be a waste to not take advantage of it.  So, today, we got her dressed in her sister's old leotard and headed off to her first class after going on a preschool field trip together.  Ella was so excited and as calm as a cucumber.  I just can't get over how easily she adjusts to new things and change compared to her older brother.
After we arrived and the teacher was taking roll, Ella's favorite friend and next door neighbor, Poppy, walked in the door.  I had completely forgotten that her mom had mentioned to me that she had taken gymnastics at the Y on Fridays in the past.  So, just by luck, these two girls ended up in the same class today!  So, Ella had the time of her life tagging along with Poppy to the different stations in the gym during her 45 minute class.  Ella was all smiles the entire time and it was so cute to see the two of them together!

Ella posing for me in the gymnasium before her class began.

Ella swinging on the bars.

Getting help from her teacher to do a somersault down the wedge mat.

Ella following Poppy over the obstacle course.

The girls waiting their turn in line.

Poppy and Ella crossing the balance beam.

Ella walking up the mat.

All finished with class and posing on a balance beam!

This is a first...

Since Logan is now in the 1st grade, he is being assigned a weekly math worksheet to complete at home in addition to his nightly reading.  Since I was busy making dinner this afternoon, I asked Lia to help Logan with his math and this was the adorable scene I noticed a few minutes later as I was swirling around the kitchen.  It sort of struck me as this is the first time Lia has ever helped a younger sibling with schoolwork and it just made me smile.  Hopefully, there will be many more of these moments in the years to come.  Although it was never my plan nor what I wanted, sometimes it is a wonderful blessing having a four year gap between kiddos.

Volta!

For Father's Day last June, I gave Ron tickets to go see the latest Cirque du Soleil show that was to be coming to town this fall called "Volta."  After several, busy months, the time quickly arrived today for us to be entertained for two, jaw-dropping hours under the grand chapiteau.  Unfortunately, we had to skip Lia's second soccer game to allow enough time to make the drive to my parent's house in Issaquah where we dropped off the kiddos before heading over to Redmond to get there with enough time to park, walk into the tent, purchase some snacks, and get seated in the big tent before the show began.  As always, Cirque put on an amazing show full of mind-blowing, death defying, and seemingly impossible acts!  Volta featured a more punk rock, tough-guy theme with an awesome trampoline and BMX bike act that kept us one the edge of our seats from beginning to an end.  It was quite a way to spend the afternoon!

One of the many colorful, Volta signs in and around the tent.

Ron and I heading into the grand chapiteau that was colored white and grey this time.

The jump roping, opening act.

The unicyclist riding around the stage while carrying another performer.

The performers climbing up and jumping off of the two-sided structure with trampolines at the bottom of each side.  This was my favorite act of the entire show.

Two bicyclist giving each other a fist bump in the middle of the final act--the amazing, BMX show.

First Day of School At Last!

By a total miracle, the teachers union and our district came to a final agreement last night and the strike was declared over!  So, with only a few hours notice, the kids and I found out that they were heading back to school after only three days of being on strike.  As wonderful news as this was, I quickly realized that Ella would be late for her first day of preschool.  This is because on a regular day of school, I could drop Lia and Logan off at the side gate at 8:45 and easily get Ella to preschool on time at 9 a.m.  However, on the first day of school, my kids and I always want to park the car and walk into school so that I can help them find their class' line--especially since Lia is out on the black top behind the school and Logan is in the gym inside the school.
As a result, we started off the morning extra rushed since I had to get all three kids ready for their first day, take some pictures and video in front of the house, and try to leave a few minutes early to build in enough time to find a parking spot, make the long walk to the school, and "deliver" two students to two different lines in two different parts of the school.  During all of the morning chaos, my friend, Regan, called me to tell me that her car's battery had died and asked if I could swing by her house to pick her and her daughter up to take them to school, too.  Suddenly, we were really rushed for time since I knew that this detour would add about 10 minutes to the morning.  Ugh.  So, we got out of the house as quickly as we could, dashed to Regan's to pick them up, and then promptly got stuck behind the horrid bus on the way out of her neighborhood while it made multiple bus stops.  My kids will be the first to attest that I HATE getting stuck behind school buses.  It drives me bonkers! 
We finally made it down to the school and found a spot on the side street.  We rushed as fast as we could all the way to the back of the school where I seriously had less than one minute to take a picture of Lia and some friends before kissing her goodbye and rushing off to get Logan situated in the gym.  As we were dashing to the front of the school, I realized that we would probably miss his line being dismissed in the gym if we tried to walk all the way to the front entrance.  I noticed a side door and ran over to it with the two, little kids in tow.  Of course it was locked, but just by luck, the custodian (who I know from church) happened to be in the hallway right on the other side of the door.  After pounding on the door, she happily came and opened it for us and told me that they had just started dismissing the 1st grade classes from the gym.  Ahhhh!  So, the three of us ran into the gym with just enough time to for me to find Logan's line, take a picture of him, and kiss him on the head before his teacher walked his class out.  It was crazy fast, but I was so grateful that we had been let through the side door of the school by the custodian.  We never would have made it on time otherwise!
With the two older ones taken care of, Ella and I ran all the way across the field, out the side gate, and to our car.  Since Regan was not there waiting for us, I made the split section decision to leave her at the school with the promise to come back and pick her up after delivering Ella late to her first day of preschool.  So, I threw Ella in the car and off we went!  We made it to preschool a few minutes late just as all of the parents were driving out of the parking lot.  Although I was disappointed that I didn't get to wait with her in line inside the church foyer on her first and only day ever of preschool, I was grateful that I at least was able to snap a picture in front of the doors before a volunteer whisked her away.  Overall, the entire morning was way too rushed and frantic for my style.  I always like to take in the first day of school and savor this special experience with my kiddos, but there are somethings in life you just can't predict like a school strike ending and a friend in need.  So, all in all, the kids made it to their classes on time or almost on time and they all came home with raving reports at the end of the day which is what really matters.

Logan, Lia, and Ella all dressed in their new, school clothes ready for their first day.  As you can tell from the picture, the girls were excited and Logan was NOT.  This boy hates change and dreads anything new and out of his comfort zone.  I am convinced he will be like this the rest of his schooling career.

Lia Elizabeth:  My tall, lanky, beautiful, 5th grader.

Logan Cruz:  My anti-change, 1st grader trying to give me the best smile he could muster considering his current mood.

Ella Avalon:  The cutest preschooler ever to hit the planet.

Although this is the first year ever that Lia has not been blessed with super close friends in her class, she luckily has several "fringe friends."  I have used this term for years to describe girls who she is friends with at school, but does not spend time with them outside of school with the exception of birthday parties.  I am just grateful that she had someone to be excited to see on her first day of school!

Pictured from left to right:  Lia, Sophia, Brooke, and Maycen

Logan nervously trying to smile for me before his teacher whisked his class away!

And, he's off!  Logan following his class from the end of his line.

I was simply amazed by how cool, calm, and collected Ella was for her first day of preschool at the Lutheran church.  She wasn't nervous at all and just happily walked up to the front doors with me.  She didn't even flinch when one of the volunteers grabbed her hand from me to take her away.  She is so different than Logan was on this day!  Here is the one picture I managed to snap of her in front of the yellow doors of the church.

Ella was so happy and excited when I picked her up 2.5 hours later.  She had a great first day and told me all about it.  Here she is modeling her crown that she colored as one of her activities in class.

For the first time in five years, I no longer have a carpool buddy to take turns driving to and from school with.  This is a major bummer for me.  However, one of my friends agreed to let me write her down as my "after school daycare" so that Lia and Logan can ride the bus home with her kids every day.  This is due to the fact that her neighborhood is only 2 minutes from my house and in the school boundaries (unlike my neighborhood).  As a result, it is a much faster drive to pick the kids up after school each day from this bus stop instead of driving all the way to the school and fighting traffic.  Since Lia and Logan have never had the chance to ride a bus, they were both thrilled by the idea.  Here are the two of them walking away from the bus after getting off.

Lia and Logan approaching me with Sienna at their side.

Lia's First Soccer Game of the Season

It's hard to believe that Lia's fourth season of soccer officially started today.  The time is going way too fast!  When Lia came home with her game schedule on Thursday evening, I was shocked to see the number of games that are being held in different towns as opposed to Lia's previous seasons.  As a result, we piled in the car today and drove over 30 minutes to the rural town of Enumclaw.  The field was located in a beautiful location nestled in the foothills of the Cascades.  Lia's team did a great job and won 4-1.  Lia has really gotten so much more aggressive and confident out on the field in the past year.  I can't even count how many times she kicked the ball and even was the assist to one of the four goals.  If only it could have been hers!  Overall, she did a great job and I am looking forward to another season of rooting our girl on from the side lines.

I managed to snap this picture right as Lia looked at Ron as he yelled at her from the sidelines.  He has a tendency to be her personal coach at all of her games and can be found screaming commands at Lia throughout every game. :-)

Lia going after the ball.

Kicking the ball with a pack of girls around her.

Luckily, there is usually a school playground next to most of Lia's soccer games which entertains the two "littles" for most of the game.  Today, Ella kept on running over to check in with us before heading back to the playground for more play.  Here is a picture of our adorable girl I managed to get one of the times she ran towards us.  Oh, how I love that cute smile of hers!

Lia chasing down the ball.

I just love this picture because it captured the moment that Ron yelled something at Lia while she was running right past us and it totally made her smile.

Running up to the ball...

and kicking it!

Lia looking for someone to pass to.

Dribbling past us...

and kicking it down the field.

Lia and Piper chasing down the ball again.

Jumping in the air before kicking it.

A shot of Lia and an her opponent with the stunning foothills in the background.

And one more action shot of our awesome girl.

A photo of our red-cheeked, soccer player at the end of her first game of the season!  Good job, Lia!

20 Weeks Down, 20 To Go...

To most of the world, this is going to come as a total surprise. To close friends and family, this probably will not. A few of you know of the very strong desire and wish I have had for the past several years to have a fourth baby. But due to my age, I never knew if it would actually be a possibility after I gave birth to Ella at almost 38 years old. Although Ron was not 100% on board to have a fourth child, he agreed to be open to the idea back in 2015 after I promised him that he could buy equipment for a home gym in the basement whether I got pregnant or not. Fast forward three years and two heartbreaking miscarriages in 2015 and 2017, I found out I was pregnant again this past May. Due to my age and history of miscarriages, I decided once again to keep things quiet for several months while I waited on pins and needles to get well past that oh-so scary, first trimester. This past Tuesday, I hit my half way mark of 20 weeks which is a huge milestone and a massive relief for me. I am now feeling the baby kick all the time which is such a blessing as I now get reassured on a daily basis that the baby is literally "alive and kicking." I am finally starting to breathe a sigh of relief and to feel like this baby will really be joining our family this coming January.

Here is a picture of my 20-week bump that Lia took yesterday before my doctor's appointment.

Ron was able to join me for the one and only appointment he ever sits in on during my pregnancies yesterday for the big, 20-week ultrasound.  Pictured above is the adorable profile of our baby that the sonographer was able to get.  Having this mid-pregnancy ultrasound is one of my favorite parts of being pregnant.  To just lay down on a bed in a quiet, dark room for an hour and watch our baby up on the "big screen" is such a treat!  After our ultrasound, we met with my OB and went over the results.  Everything looks good (down to our baby measuring to the exact day of 20 weeks, 3 days that I am pregnant) except for two minor issues with the umbilical cord and heart that my doctor hopes will either not be an issue or resolve itself in the weeks to come.  So, I will just continue to hope and pray that this miracle pregnancy will continue to grow and develop at a healthy rate.

Although I was very cautious about telling our children that we were expecting another one, I realized that we would need to do this before our trip to Hawaii.  This is due to the fact that I never go through the x-ray machines at security in airports while being pregnant and I knew that our children would want to know the reason why.  So, on the evening of July 27th at 14 weeks pregnant, Ron and I shared the big news with the kids two days before leaving for Hawaii.  I decided that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tell them in a fun way.  Since I had my blood drawn at 10 weeks pregnant for the DNA blood test, Ron and I have known for several weeks that we are having a boy.  As a result, I had a bouquet of three different shades of blue balloons blown up for each of the children.  Hidden inside each of the balloons was a slip of paper containing a word that would form a sentence once the kids put them all together in the correct order.  Here they are posing with their balloons in the living room after we first called them into the room.  They were totally confused and had no idea what was going on.

I then showed them this sign on the table and told them to each pick up a pin with a white ribbon tied to it.

I then told them to pop all three of their balloons one at a time.  Here is Ella getting ready to pop her first one.

As the balloons popped and the little slips of paper went flying out, the kids definitely got more excited and curious about the entire thing.  Here is Lia popping her second balloon.

Lia popping her third and final balloon.

The kids immediately set out unrolling the slips of paper and trying to put them together in the right order.  Ella was so funny as she just kept on holding up different pieces of paper with total enthusiasm although she had no idea what they said.

After a minute or two of frenzied unrolling and laying out on the table, Lia was able to put together the sentence below...

And then the freaking out began!

I was totally unsure how the kids would react to this news--especially Logan and Ella.  But Ron and I were totally blown away by all of the jumping and screaming and overall happiness!  It was so much fun and rather touching to witness.  Ron and I just sat there and laughed over and over again.

Here is a picture that captures them jumping up and down and screaming.

After the kids had calmed down, I showed them the latest batch of pictures I had gotten a few days earlier at my 14-week, doctor's appointment.

The kids wanted to touch my belly and were very curious to know how big the baby was at this time (around the size of a peach).  Logan immediately put his face up to my stomach and started talking to the baby.  He gave the baby the name, "Mr. Baby," and then said two of the funniest things.  First, he said, "I know what I'm going to keep on doing...talking to the bump!"  He then announced that the first word he was going to teach the baby after he is born is, "Arghhhhh," since Logan still loves all things pirate!  Oh, that boy.

And there you go.  That's our big news!