Robin at 3 Years

At 3 years Robin brings warmth, laughter, and undeniable cuteness to just about everything she does.  She loves animals and dolls and building forts or working on projects with her big sister.  Lately Robin is into all things ‘dress up’ and she has recently been spotted wearing her princess dress even on the soccer field.  At school she has many friends but also spends a lot of time with Lilly.  She loves to dance and sing and has recently showed a lot of interest in speaking Spanish.  Robin would probably say that her favorite thing to do is to  ‘go swimming’, which we hope to do much more of now that it’s Spring!  Her vocabulary is excellent but we are focusing on encouraging her to pronounce her words more clearly (generally she speaks much more clearly at home than she does around other people).   She has taught us so much and we love her to pieces!!

Robin’s 3rd Birthday

Happy Birthday, Robin!  After deciding that we would have a ‘family birthday’ this year, Robin informed us that she wanted to have a ‘unicorn birthday’, so we made sure to surprise her that morning with a unicorn balloon and birthday t-shirt to get her special day off to the right start :).  We spent the morning at the aquarium and had dinner with the Gronholm’s at Lucky Pie (Robin dressed up in her princess gown and new accessories for the occasion).  Neighbors and friends came over for Sweet Cow ice cream cake and gifts.  A great day celebrating our wonderful little girl!  xo

For the complete set of photos, click here.

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I had a particularly lovely birthday this year, thanks to a morning hike up Mt Sanitas and a day filled with kind words from family and friends.  Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Easter 2014

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We had another Easter with beautiful weather, which made for a good time at our 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hike! This year we went back up to NCAR and it was crowded but fun. The girls each found enough eggs to fill up their baskets, and every time Lilly got upset that Robin found a cute egg, Robin would give it to her (this has been happening all of the time lately – cute but we’re trying to teach Robin that she doesn’t always have to give in!). Yesterday evening it was raining so we told the girls something magical happens when it rains the night before Easter. They each ‘planted’ a handful of jelly beans in the backyard and when they woke up they turned into lollipops!  🙂

As usual, they were also spoiled by the Easter Bunny and family.  Thanks to all and Happy Easter!

For the complete set of photos, click here.

End of School Sorrows and Conferences

My parent-teacher conferences for Lilly took up 45 minutes and involved tears (mostly tears of joy, some motherly concern). My p/t conferences for R went something like this:

Teacher: Robin is doing great!
Me: Wonderful. What are you up to this weekend? (end of Robin discussion)

Funny how I have such confidence in my second and with Lilly everything is uncharted territory. This birth order stuff is no joke!!
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The past few weeks Lilly has been asking many questions about her transition to elementary school. She is worried about leaving her friends from preschool (1 friend will be attending Mesa with her while others are headed to various schools) and making new friends in Kindergarten (“Mommy, no one is going to want to be friends with me” 🙁 ). We find ourselves singing, “make new friends but keep the old” every day now and have been working to reassure Lilly that this is an exciting and positive change that she is READY for.

Even Robin is concerned about Lilly leaving Sunflower in the Fall. Tonight at bedtime when the lights were off she started talking about it and said, “But mommy we’re sisters forever and I don’t want Lilly to go to a different school! I want to go to elementary school with my sister (pouty voice)!” Robin wants to be ‘all grown up’ like her big sister while Lilly is nervous about the change.

Oh, my sweet girls, I wish I could hold you and protect you forever, and I will for as long as I can, but I am amazed by what competent and beautiful people you have become.

Kindergarten orientation is on Saturday so we hope she comes out of it feeling better about things!

Lilly’s first ski season

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Well, Lilly’s first ski season has just about come to an end and needless to say we have been SHOCKED with how far she has come since December. Bill has taken her up to Eldora many times and we also had her to 5 private lessons and 2 full day lessons, not to mention a trip to Breck, so she has had some practice. Now she is just about doing parallel turns on each side, has real confidence, can ski down any green or blue hill with skill, and most importantly, she LOVES it!! I just bought my first pair of ski boots and jacket since middle school and cannot wait to start skiing again next season…and with Robin!