Swimming

We took the girls to the rec center for some swimming.

Maggie is still very nervous about getting too wet or getting splashed or any water at all touching her face. So this picture of her actually going down the slide and risking it all is pretty exciting for me.

She mostly prefers to sit and play quietly with a water spout at the top. See how that little stream of water is so very non-threatening?

Caroline seems to be slightly more daring in the water. I better take advantage and get her signed up for swim lessons before the fear is learned.

This is Caroline mid happy-swimming dance:

I actually put on a suit and was prepared to get wet (I mean beyond my knees) if necessary. Luckily is wasn't necessary. Maggie commented on the way home that I had said I was going to get wet and I didn't. She's starting to notice I'm not the swimming type. I wanted the girls to be strong swimmers before they noticed their mom does NOT like to swim. It's not that I'm afraid or that I'm a terrible swimmer (I am actually a terrible swimmer). It's that I can't stand being....soggy. I'm a read-a-book-while-catching-some-sun-on-a-lounge-chair kinda gal.

Randoms

Dressing up. Nothing new here.

But Caroline plays "dress up" a bit different. She just wants to wear Maggie's Dora underwear. That's it. Almost every day.

And I just had to include a shot of those legs!

What the girls do while I clean. Was it worth it? I'm still debating.

Caroline has been refusing her naps for a good long time now. This makes for a very cranky girl most evenings. Or we walk out of the room for 2 seconds and come back to this:

Patrick and the girls watching Tangled:

And the one picture of Maggie and me at Disney Princesses on Ice. I think she had a good time. She's easily overwhelmed and she mostly just sat on my lap with giant eyes. When it first started and the lights went out and the music began she looked at me and said, "Caroline really should be here!". Melt my heart that she even noticed or cared!

Rare Day With Dad

We had a rare day with Dad at the park. The girls get a lot of time with their dad at home when he gets up with them in the morning and all day as he takes breaks from work and wanders down the stairs but he usually doesn't have time for a trip to the park. This was fun! He even made a picnic lunch.

Canvas and Cocktails

My friend Melissa found this great place called Canvas and Cocktails and invited a group of us to try it out. You pay a small fee to paint a picture and they have a bar there as well for those who want to drink--hence the name Canvas and Cocktails. The instructor walks you through the chosen painting of the night and in between brief explanations the music goes way up and everyone paints, sings, chats, until the next set of instructions. Now, I'm no artist. Not even sorta. I had SO MUCH FUN! This is totally worth doing.

Thank you to Melissa over at All Together Now for inviting me. What a fabulous girls night out!

Most of March

March might have gotten away from me. Our church started a little bootcamp class twice a week which I have been attending. This means I have been reminded of how out of shape I am every moment of every day--oh the soreness! But it's given me motivation to start running again and maybe someday (a girl can dream) I'll feel healthy and in shape. I've also been busy with various church activities involving plenty of baking, book clubs (I now belong to THREE), and I've been helping my friend with small tasks as she launches her clothing company. Bus-y! Oh, and I made my first road trip alone with the girls to Utah and I'm still alive to tell the tale. I'll post about that trip later. So lets discuss the month with a few photos.

A friend hosted a little Charming Charlie party with snacks, drinks, and lots of girl talk. Charming Charlie is an accessories store (for lack of a better description). Everyone from the party got 20% off their entire purchase. I picked up a couple of crowns for my girls:

Caroline is like a vulture waiting until Maggie moves away from her project then slides right in and, according to Maggie, "ruins everything". Maggie does not appreciate cooperative art projects!

My favorite walking route happens to go through two parks. Most of the time I'm a mean mom and tell the kids we can't stop (otherwise my workout would be shot). One day I actually did stop for them. It was a fairly cold day but the girls were determined to get on those swings:

The new basement has been the spot we spend almost all of our time these days. Maggie is just completely obsessed with my very old PS2. We bought her a couple of games and she spends hours playing Scooby Doo or Frogger.

Caroline sticks to coloring with her dad:

Valentines 2011

This post has taken much too long to complete! Turns out I couldn't find pictures of the finished product and I had to dig (and dig some more!) to find this cell phone shot of Maggie's 2011 Valentine. I love it. I still haven't found a completed card of Caroline and I could just kick myself over it! I took the photos and sent them off to my sister Julie to do the background and make it look fabulous! She even made the fists a slightly bigger so it would have the perfect effect. Here's the post she did on the cards at Mom's Purse.

I thought I'd share a little of the photo shoot we did in order to get the girls holding their hands out in a fist. We never did get a very good one of Caroline.

Isn't Maggie darling in the background?? **tender**

**EDIT** found one of Caroline!