growing up

This Fall our Olivia celebrated her 8th birthday. I am not sure where the past 8 years have gone, but more than that I cannot believe what an amazing young lady our Olivia has grown to become. Anytime one of our girl's birthdays rolls around we prepare for what seems like a week long celebration. Well, this year Olivia's birthday celebration spanned the better part of two weeks. Crazy, I know!

First up...the birthday itself. We did our best to make the day special for Olivia. A special breakfast in the morning and lunch with Mom that day at school. My Mom made special cookies for her to bring as a birthday treat to share with her friends.

That evening we went out for a casual dinner followed up by the exciting stuff...presents and cake! Cecilia was not thrilled about the spotlight being on her sister, and she made it known. The celebration continued anyway and Olivia was thrilled with her gifts. Finally, she blew out the candle and made her birthday wish. She had a fantastic day!

The thing Olivia was most looking forward to was her "friend" birthday party. Very early on she decided that she wanted to have a mani-pedi party. I heard of a local nail salon that had adorable pedicure chairs for little girls and a room suitable for private parties. After seeing it firsthand we were sold! It was simply adorable!

Olivia and 7 of her closest friends from dance and soccer came together for an afternoon of pampering. The girls took turns getting their nails done and enjoying snacks and crafts. From the looks of it they fully enjoyed the relaxation.

It was super cute to see their brightly colored fingers and toes when the pampering was complete. But before the party wrapped up there were presents to be opened and cupcakes to be enjoyed! I have never seen this girl smile so much in my life. She was having the best time with her closest buddies, and it could not have made her happier. It was a fun girly-girl birthday party and according to Olivia...it was "the best day ever!".

The following weekend the endless birthday celebration continued with a small sleepover with a few friends from school...past and present. She could only invite so many to her mani-pedi party, so I told her she could have a few of her closest school buddies over for the night. She invited Laurel (a girl she has gone to school with since she was 18 months old), Paikea (a girl she has been very close with for many years, who recently moved to another school), and Ellie (a girl she has gone to school each year she has attended Peace).The girls had a fun evening of games and silliness. These girls have more or less grown up together, so they were really looking forward to spending the night together celebrating Olivia's birthday. Seeing Olivia with her friends during the various birthday celebrations just made me realize what a great group of girlfriend she has. She is truly blessed!

The (almost) two-week birthday celebration finally commenced with the annual visit to Takaoka. Todd's Mom has taken us all to this very fun Japanese restaurant for the past three years to celebrate Olivia's birthday. She looks forward to it so much...as do the rest of us! The chefs are always entertaining, and the food...so good! By the time dinner was over we could officially put Olivia's 8th birthday to rest. I think it is safe to say she welcomed age 8 in style!

There were other things that went on in November, besides celebrating Olivia;s birthday. I know...hard to believe. Cece has been taking tap class again. This is her second year. Parent visitation happened before Thanksgiving and Todd was able to observe. I was not able to attend which is probably a good thing considering Cecilia's behavior typically takes a turn for the worse whenever I am around.

Cece participates in tap class when she feels like it, which is most of the time. She spends much of the time being silly, just like she does in every day life. Regardless she looks adorable and I have been reassured by her teacher she does know the steps and listens in class. 

Each year the girl's school puts on VIP Day. This is a day that they get to bring someone special to school, to show them what they do in the classroom. My Mom and I were planning on splitting duties between Cece and Olivia's class, and each spending half of the time in each classroom. The day before I started feeling under the weather and I could not bring myself to go into their school that morning. Come to find out, I had strep throat, but even more disappointing is that I had to miss this special day at their school. The girls still had fun showing their Nana all of their favorite "works".

Another wonderful event the school puts on each year is the Thanksgiving Feast! This is when the kids gather together to enjoy a "kid friendly" Thanksgiving meal. I decided to swing by and see the girls while they enjoyed this special time with their friends. It probably wasn't the best idea where Cece was concerned, as my presence was distracting and kept her from eating. Olivia was fully enjoying breaking bread with her school friends. 

By the end of the November the holidays were on our mind and it was time to start decorating for Christmas. The first decorations we put up were the girl's individual Christmas trees. They had so much fun looking at all of their little ornaments and finding special spots for them on their trees. They needed a little help spacing the ornaments at the end, but the trees looked fabulous!

Every year our dance studio performs at the Festival of Trees. This was something I did every year with the dance studio growing up and this was Olivia's 2nd year performing in the show. It's a fun little event and she loves being a part of it. The Festival of Trees is a great way to kick off the fun holiday season!

After the performance we always take time to walk around and see all of the beautifully decorated trees. Some of them are simply amazing. The girl's favorite, hands down was the "Frozen" themed tree. 

Santa was in attendance at the Festival of Trees and Olivia was excited to sit on his lap. Cecilia, on the other hand just wanted to watch from a distance. It was hard to tell at that point if Cece was going to have any interest in getting close to Santa during our official visit leading up to Christmas. She is one unpredictable kid.

To say we were excited for the holidays was a huge understatement. With both girls still believing in Santa (I think Olivia has her doubts, but chooses to believe), they just love everything having to do with Christmas. It was my mission to do everything in my power to make sure they had the best Christmas possible. I will share all of our holiday adventures next time!

kickin' off fall

I hardly know where to begin. It's my fault for letting so much time pass between my blog entries, but these two girls keep us busy beyond belief. This is also a super busy time of year for us, which means I have a lot of catching up to do. Let's get started!

So back in late August we took Cecilia to Sesame Street Live. We took Olivia to the show when she was little, but she was deathly afraid of mascots. She enjoyed the show but from a distance. Cece does not have that fear, and was super excited to be so close to the action. We had great seats which gave her the chance to get up close and personal with the characters and even do some dancing during the show. She brought her little Elmo with her and was patiently waiting for the show to start.

There was nothing better than watching the amazement in her face as she soaked in all of the excitement. It was a great show that kept her entertained throughout. During intermission she got to pick a souvenir, which was the highlight of the evening for her. She choose a stuffed Zoey, and held her tight through the second half. She enjoyed the show so much that she cried when it was over. Until next time, sweet Cece.

By late August the girls were both back in school and adjusting to a new year. Cecilia had a bigger adjustment with a new teacher and a new classroom. Olivia fell right into place in 2nd grade, but it took a little while for Cece to feel comfortable. In fact, for weeks she would cry when getting dropped off. I was assured by her teacher, Ms. Linda that the crying stopped within minutes each day and she would spend the rest of the morning working happily. She always came out of school with a huge smile on her face, but the next school day would once again start with more crying. It has been difficult for me to see Cece not wanting to go to school, but her teacher has been so great in helping me to see that she does in fact enjoy being there.

With our recent cold temps it seems like ages ago we were visiting the zoo in shorts and t-shirts, but back in September we were squeezing in some final zoo trips before it closed for the season. We made many trips to the zoo this summer, making lots of fun zoo memories. Can't wait to go back again in the Spring!

Olivia's soccer was still in full gear throughout the Fall with lots of weekend games and tough competition. Their little team would put up a fight in each game, but rarely come through with a win. It's tough when you are younger and smaller than the teams you are up against each time, but the losses only help to improve their skills and their teamwork.

The best part of it all is the friendships. Olivia's soccer buddies are some of her best friends. They have so much fun together on and off the soccer field. What I love is watching these girls get stronger and more competitive, the longer they play together. They are tough little cookies and even though most of their games end in a loss they still have a good time. That's what it is all about!

So my favorite part of Fall is prepping for Halloween, and that means a trip to the pumpkin patch. Each Fall we take the kids to pick apples. The day we chose to pick apples the orchard was closed so we ended up visiting their pumpkin patch instead, and picking our own pumpkins.

The patch was great and the girls had a great time picking the perfect pumpkins. It was a gorgeous Fall day and this really got us into the Halloween spirit!

The other pumpkin patch we like to visit is close to our old neighborhood. Even though we moved 6 years ago we still visit each year because it's a tradition. The girls pick out their tiny pumpkins at this little church-run pumpkin stand. We call them "spookies".

It was a day full of picking out pumpkins...large and small. Fun was had by all and we were ready for more fun fall activities.

A few weeks after picking our big pumpkins we went back to pick apples. This was our second year enjoying doing this, and we love it! This year Todd was busy, so my Mom tagged along. Olivia was really into finding the perfect apple, while Cecilia was into seeing how many apples she could devour.

We walked around filling our bags full of apples until we could no longer feel our fingers because of the cold. This has become one of my favorite fall activities to do with the girls. They really enjoy it and we get to enjoy yummy apples for weeks afterwards!

This apple orchard/pumpkin patch really helped us get into the spirit of season and get excited for Halloween. Can't wait to go back again next year!

We kept the Fall activities rolling with a field trip to a pumpkin patch with Cecilia's school. I rarely get to tag along on field trips so I was really excited to join her and her little friends. The weather was less than desirable, but that did not keep the kids from enjoying themselves. First up, was "pumpkin school". The kids learned everything there was to know about every variety of pumpkin.

Because of the rain the hayride out to the pumpkin patch was scratched. Instead the kids were able to go into the barn and find their perfect little pumpkin to take home. We were able to roam around the farm a bit and check out their ginormous pumpkins before heading back to school. The field trip was cut short because of the weather, but it was still a good time and I was lucky to share it with Cece.

With Halloween approaching we made our annual trip to the zoo for the Zoo Halloween. The girls look forward to this each year. They decorate with hundreds of pumpkins painted and arranged to look like different animals. It's quite impressive!

While roaming the zoo the kids collect their treats. This year we brought Olivia's closest bud, Aleah with us. It was a chilly day, but the sun was shining. Couldn't ask for much more! The girls had so much fun together and got more use out of their costumes!

One final stop before trick-or-treating is the annual Fall Festival at Peace Montessori. The school works to put on a nice festival for the kids each year. Games, horse and carriage rides, crafts and snacks were just a few of the things to enjoy. The girls just love spending the afternoon running around with their friends while dressed in their costumes. We have enjoyed many Fall Festivals over the years and there will be more to come as Cecilia continues her time at Peace.

We were keeping an eye on the forecast in the days leading up to Halloween, hoping for a decent night for trick-or-treating. No such luck. It seems the past few years it has been super cold and rainy, and this year was no different. It wasn't just cold and rainy...it was plain miserable. Rain or shine...my little Minnie Mouse and Princess Jasmine weren't going to let the weather keep them from getting that candy!

I think we stepped outside with the girls, walked about 10 feet while getting blasted with huge wind gusts before deciding to hop in the car and drive them from house to house. I'm sorry but there is something not right about driving around to trick-or-treat. That is just not how it is supposed to work. Olivia was still determined to collect as much candy as possible, while Cece was more interested in staying warm and cozy with me in the car. Who could blame her? I think they still enjoyed themselves, despite the crappy weather. After the past few years we are definitely due for a nice Halloween next year!

We are gearing up for the holidays around here. Just wrapped up Olivia's 2-week birthday extravaganza. Yes...I said 2 WEEKS! I'll update on that next time. Now it's time to get in that holiday spirit!