Little Mermaid Part 1

Here is a quick video of our biggest "little mermaid". She has really taken off with her swimming in the last week or two. Now she's jumping in the pool without any help and without any floaties. She's also swimming under water for 5-10 seconds at a time.

Easter Morning...

Okay, so I know Easter was a couple of weeks ago, but we've been a little busy around here so I'm just now getting a chance to post some photos of the girls. Easter is always a really big deal to us because we love the signifigance of this day. No other holiday has had such a profound effect on our lives. We are so grateful to be able to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. As much as we love Christmas and everything the Christmas season has to offer, without Easter, Christmas would just be another day. How many other belief systems or religions can claim that their leader not only paid the sacrifice THEY owed by dying a horrible death in THEIR place but on top of that, rose from the dead to prove He was G0d! NONE!!! Okay, I could go on and on but you are probably here to see cute pictures of the girls so I will try to spare you having to read a novel. So back to our Easter morning, the girls got all gussied up and came downstairs to look in their Easter baskets. Then we headed off to church where we experienced an awesome message. If you are interested, you can listen to it here...http://www.northridgerochester.com/sermons/details/184

In the next post, I'll show you some photos of the girls Easter egg hunt...so cute!

Michaleigh's new love

So Michaleigh has been begging for an American Girl doll for several months now. We told her that she would have to wait until she was a little older and was able to understand how much they cost and would be responsible enough to take care of such an investment. Plus, she didn't really know anything about the dolls and she couldn't find one that looked exactly like her. So we were thinking about getting her one for her next birthday in December hoping that by then she would either be able to find one that looked like her or learn about one that she was interested in. However...we hadn't planned on finding one at an auction. Our church has a school, Northridge Christian School, which is where Michaleigh will be going next year for Kindergarten. Each year they hold an auction to benefit the school. I was scheduled to work at the event so we headed over to check out the kid's carnival, silent auction, etc. Wouldn't you know that one of the items for the live auction was an American Girl doll! Of course Michaleigh zoned in on that right away and begged for us to get it. We weren't planning on staying for the live auction but when we looked at the doll, it definitely reminded us of Michaleigh (the hair was the closest to hers that I've seen and the eyes are a little greener than Michaleigh's but it's still close) and knowing that the money would go to the school rather than to the American Girl company, we felt like we needed to at least try. At dinner, Andy and I discussed what we thought we would have to pay if we were to order one online and determined what we would be willing to spend for the doll. That night we anxiously waited to the doll to come up and when it did Andy used his super bidding skills and won the doll for Michaleigh! If the doll had gone for a dollar more she would belong to another little girl but our little girl was ecstatic to find out that daddy had won her. You can tell by the grin that went ear to ear!

Jumping in with both feet

Okay, so here is another short video clip of Michaleigh jumping into the pool during swimming lessons. Her instructors have been working with her to jump in without holding anyone's hands and to jump out rather than right at the instructor. This was one of her best attempts to date!

Look Mom...No bubble!

Michaleigh has been taking swimming lessons at the Y for the last few months and this past week they were testing the kids to see how they are progressing. This video clip shows her trying to swim (I think she was supposed to do the backstroke) without any bubble. She did it 2 or 3 times. It wasn't easy but she is definitely progressing. She swam the whole rest of the class with only one bubble rather than 2, 3 or 4 bubbles. So, we're getting there.

Anastin's passion for pears

Yesterday, the girls and I returned home after picking up Michaleigh from preschool and while I was busy getting something for Michaleigh, Anastin was busy herself. You see, lately she has insisted on being a big girl and doing things herself, like eating from a spoon or getting on a chair, or climbing the stairs instead of being carried. Well, after taking care of Michaleigh, I discovered Anastin had climbed up on her sister's chair and had chosen a pear out of the bowl on the kitchen table. Our girls LOVE pears! Anyhow, she was already busy digging into the pear with her new teeth...no need to have mommy cut it up anymore, she's a big girl now!

Dizzy girl!