Days 240 - 243

The girls started Chinese culture and language classes this week, here's Kate diligently working on her homework. She had to copy Chinese characters for Ni, Hao and Hen.

I don't think I could ever get enough of this kind of enthusiasm! Lucy here, finally brave enough to go it alone on her bike with training wheels. (She was petrified a few weeks ago)

Kate taking a ride on the mower with Dad (blades turned off of course!) Great laugh, crummy pic. It got cool here, she's wearing a knitted poncho her Grandma made her... with her sun dress!

The girls started dance classes tonight, they were so goofy and tired by the time we came home, this is the best pic I got!

Days 236-239

Lucy is terrified of going down a slide, she finally got up the nerve to climb the ladder to the platform and here she sits... scratching bug bites, looking off into the distance, anything to avoid actually sliding down! LOL!

I asked Kate to fold some laundry, she pulled out her play iron and decided to iron it too! so helpful!

I just love Lucy's smile here :) She's wearing bug repellent bracelets on her wrists and legs, our yard is sooo buggy!

Here's Lucy with her nose stuck in her Nintendo DS game, she is crazy about anything electronic! (She playing "Iron Chef", I'm hoping she'll learn enough to make dinner by Saturday...)

Days 232-235

Kate is having so much fun with our new mini - a bit too much, actually, think I'm going to need to set some limits!

Who doesn't love new school supplies?! Kate couldn't have been more excited about all the great new Ni Hao, Kai Lan supplies at Target.

Kate's karate graduation, she's a big green/brown belt! Here she is showing off her crane stance.

I went to a great workshop given by an awesome local photographer, I want to be her when I grow up! Anyway, she said to not be afraid of upping your ISO in lower light, here I was trying it out and Lucy was more than happy to make goofy faces for me while I adjusted my settings, lol!

Days 229 - 231

It's getting to be back to school time, I've been in to school getting my room ready this past week. We start with a teacher work day on Monday. So right after school was out in June I bought this awesome bag, it's actually a scrapbooking bag - but it's huge! and perfect for all of the school stuff I tote back and forth all the time.

Here's my dh on his lawnmower. You'd think with a riding lawnmower he'd get done faster... he takes forever!! He's such a perfectionist, he trims every uneven blade of grass, I swear!

Guess what I got?! New laptop! Yippee!! The cool thing is when I ordered it, they had a deal for a 10 inch mini for only $99! It's so much fun. I feel bad spending the money but my current laptop is falling apart! I've got a flickery screen, a bad cd drive, a bad usb port, a nearly full hard drive and Photoshop crashes WAY too often! So I bought a Dell, (after a great recommendation from my friend Kimberly, TY!) they have an awesome 2 year hardware and accidental damage warranty. Can't wait to get all my stuff switched over to it and start scrapping!

Days 225 - 228

We're on a short vacation to the Smokey Mountains with my in-laws and sister-in-law. We've been here many times and it's always a fun place to go. We stay in Gatlinburg, Tennessee so there's a lot of touristy-type attractions. Lucy and my MIL were walking by this "World of Illusions" museum and Lucy wanted to say hi to this alien guy, she so very friendly... lol!

We took the girls for a hike to see a waterfall, of course we didn't realize how hard the hike was going to be. It was 1.4 miles uphill through tree roots and rocks, Lucy and Kate walked the whole way! and Kate walked the whole way back down. (these are kids that hate to even walk in the grocery store!) It was such a great hike, the waterfall was beautiful, we saw a salamander, llama poop (seriously, they use llamas to carry supplies up to a lodge that's way up in the mountains) and a big black snake slithered out and scared my MIL and Jeff half to death. It was pretty funny, Lucy almost stepped on it, it was so close.


Here's my SIL and Lucy sitting by a fountain, Lucy giving her best crazy grin (she's holding a llama stuffed animal we bought - I figured after seeing the poop, she should at least see what a llama looks like!)

We went to the big aquarium in town today, here's Kate and Lucy checking out the sting rays - they were HUGE! and this shot has a shark swimming over their heads too!

We're heading home tomorrow :)

Days 221 - 224

Grandma reading the girls a story, love the attentive look on their faces!

I bought the girls some tiny frogs. Its so cool, they came in this little tank that has "living gravel" basically it's a whole ecosystem, it pretty much takes care of itself. The frogs get fed only twice a week and you only have to change the water twice a year. My kind of pets! The girls had so much fun watching them, then they laughed their heads off watching the frogs jump for their food. The food floats on top and the frogs jump and bump into it so it will sink and they can eat it. I have to admit it really was funny!

Kate had a great time doing a fashion show with some of her new back to school clothes. Her poses crack me up. I have no idea where she learned that!

Tomorrow is Kate's "gotcha day"! Kate became a part of our family 6 years ago tomorrow! It's truly an amazing and special anniversary. We celebrated by going out for Chinese food (Kate's pick) and ice cream. I like to take family pictures on these days, you should see how many shots it took to get this one, love Lucy's silly grin! It's hard to get pics with a timer!

Days 217 - 220

I've gotten so bad at posting daily... Here's four in a row :)
I took the girls to the zoo and they have this amazing new children's area - it was awesome!! These masks were so cute!

Kate painted this self-portrait at an art camp she did a few weeks ago - I love it!! It's so sweet and hanging in our family room already!

So Kate lost two teeth in the same day! The top one has been hanging there by a thread for several days, Kate and Lucy were playing and Lucy's head knocked it out, lol! The bottom one I just had to wiggle a tiny bit and it was out too. Kate's making it hard on the tooth fairy, I think she had to take an extra trip to Tooth Fairy National Bank...

Kate stayed at Karate for an extra class today, it was her first time sparring, she did great! Here she is beating up someone much bigger than her, lol! (All of the advanced students and adults were so nice and so helpful to her, thank goodness!)

Days 211 - 216

This is my sweet cat Spike, that just can't get it together enough do any self-grooming, he is one big mat ball!

I came into the living room and there was Kate's iPod (my old one) and she was listening to the Beatles. I love it! They've been a favorite of hers since she was three. Love her taste! :)

Lucy blowing bubbles, I love this perspective, her eyelashes look so long.

Lucy made this in Sunday school - it's baby Moses - too cute! It just makes me laugh.

Apparently it's the Lucy Show this week, lol! Another Lucy in her cutie pj's.

Lucy picked out Handy Manny as a potty incentive (I'm trying to get her off the little potty seat and on the "big potty", she's so nervous about falling in.) Handy Manny seems to be doing the trick though. The part that she loves is that he talks and he says, "Righty Tighty, Lefty Lucy" ha, ha!