Happy Easter!!!

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter! Even though Lily doesn't fully understand the concept of the Easter Bunny and she really doesn't care that much about him, she took the time to write him a note letting him know where she put her basket. This morning, she was thrilled that he answered her note, found the basket, and left candy in it for her. Lily's concepts of Easter are about Jesus, egghunts, and candy. The bunny is an afterthought, but a good afterthought.

Here are a couple of her in her Easter dress.

Love to you all,

Tracy

This is the BEST day ever!!!

We have been enjoying Spring Break this week with just some fun at home, lots of games, playing with some neighborhood friends, lunch and a movie with mom and big sister, Katy, tae kwon do, sleeping in, and then today...the BEST day EVER!!!

Lily had a date with Aunt Amy, Amy's friend, Melissa, and her two children, Sage and Seth. Dates with Amy are always fun, so she jumped out of bed at 8:00, did her hair and teeth on her own with no prompting from me, then raced to her room to pick out an outfit. The day began with breakfast at McDonald's at 8:30, then an Easter Egg Hunt at 10:00, the park at 11:00, Amy's friend, Joanne's was next at 12, so they could decorate Easter cookies.

While they were gone, I slipped off to Macy's with a gift card left over from Christmas and a 40% sale on Easter dresses, then off to Marshall's for shoes, and CVS for bunny stuff.

Lily and Amy be-bopped in the door at about 2:00, loaded to the gills with candy, cookies, and toys. Needless to say, Lily has been quite content tonight and is so tired, she can hardly move. Tomorrow, I will try to get some pictures in her Easter dress before church and Grandma's.

Happy Easter!!!

Tracy

Last Week a Yellow Belt, This Week ORANGE!!

Lily has finally, finally decided that she is going to take tae kwon do seriously and is gaining the confidence she needs to continue. Being a former baseball mom (11 years of sitting on bleachers, thank you), I did not see the dedication in Lily for tae kwon do that I saw in her brother, Ian, for baseball. I kept pressuring Scott to let her try dance or gymnastics, or something else for gosh sakes, but the two of them kept schlepping off to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday nights. One night about a month ago there was an Epiphany. She was actually practicing her form in the kitchen and there was precision in her movements and she was using her voice! I was so excited to see that she was clicking with all that Master Chon had been teaching her for the past 8 months, that it motivated me to become a tae kwon do mom. Her orange belt test was the hardest I have ever seen her work and I was proud of how focused she was. For the students moving to the higher belt levels, Lily was transfixed watching their form and never spoke a word. I was more focused on Lily, as I realized she was finally "getting it". So here are a few pictures of Lily, with Master Chon and with some of her class last night, after they received their new belts.

As a side note, Master Chon and tae kwon do are Korean, so all of the language they use in class is Korean. She can count to 50 in Korean and knows all of her commands in Korean, as well, so I guess by the time she is finished, she'll have a mixed bag of languages in her repertoire - at this point, she probably knows more Korean than Mandarin!

THE AFTERSCHOOL TEA PARTY

Lily and her friend, Hannah, had a playdate after school today. Pick up sticks proved a little too competitive for Mom to handle, so a tea party was formed in Lily's room. Lily is still learning age appropriate social skills and sometimes girlie things tend to bring out the best in her, where games don't. Lots of laughter was involved, with a bit of Splenda, Crystal Lite, bread and honey too. When I grabbed the camera, they both said, "Cheers!" then clicked their cups together. That was my cue to exit the room. Three teapots of Crystal Lite later, it was time for Hannah to leave and Lily complained that the time was too short. The Chinese Princess party will have to be continued...maybe next time with other friends, too.

Tracy

Who's that sleeping in MY bed??

This morning, I awoke to snoring. Loud snoring. Not what I am used to. Lily has finally begun sleeping in her own bed, and Scott was standing next to me at the side of the bed telling me to wake up, roll over, and look. Now that Lily is gone and our new Christmas memory foam topper has been added to the bed, Scott and I thought we were really in hog heaven. As it stands, we are really in DOG heaven, as Jack, our 120 lb. doberman loves our bed now. Scott said the only memory the foam has is a large doberman. We haven't been able to get him off the bed since Christmas. Good thing the comforter is in the dryer. Meanwhile, Scott and I can't seem to get a break!!!

Jeepers!

Tracy

Another one from Christmas

Lily Harper, Cole Harper, Melanie Harper, Katy Fraser, and Ian Fraser

Some family time at Christmas