Presenting ... Stephanie's Iron Man Dance!!

Stephanie continues to demonstrate an interest in dancing - more specifically choreography. This makes me concerned how she would do in a class. She would try running the class and telling the teacher what they should do! Ha ha! Today, she jumped up on the coffee table and just went at it. I was very impressed. Apparently, she was watching Iron Man 2 with daddy the other day and was inspired by the Iron Man dancers (see the Stark Expo Clip (from Iron Man 2) on YouTube). Yikes! We'll have to be careful what dancers she sees from now on! Ha ha!

Mama Panya's Pancakes!

We found another neat book at the library about hospitality, generosity and friendship. It includes the recipe for the pancakes in the back. One Saturday morning, I solicited requests for breakfast. I suggested waffles or pancakes and Stephanie said, "How about Mama Panya's pancakes?"  I was surprised that she remembered and excited that she wanted to try something different.

The pancakes are very simple - pretty much just flour and oil with a few other things added. The recipe called for red pepper flakes, but I didn't include them since we were having them for breakfast. They turn out like crepes. We filled them with some jelly or apple butter. It took a little getting used to - the flavor was a bit bland and the texture a bit rubbery, but a good experience.

Swim Lesson Wrap Up

We wrapped up swim lessons last week. Stephanie still won't put her face in the water, but she is A LOT more comfortable in the water than she was before. In the beginning she wouldn't float on her back or jump in. By the end, these were the parts of class that she looked forward to most. So, with that, I felt they were a success! We are looking forward to the visit with Grandma and cousins, Aidan and Susie. We should be heading to the pool quite a bit where I can finally get a chance to help Stephanie practice a little.

Here the class is playing a fun game of "Are You Sleeping Mr. Crocodile?!?". Very Cute!

McDonalds, Stiches and Angels

Well, we have been trying to work on potty training with Stephanie the last couple of days. So, I have tried keeping us at home to focus on that. I have spent a lot of time catching up on cleaning and organizing that I have put off. Today I could tell the girls were really getting stir crazy, so I thought it would be fun to go to McDonalds to have lunch and to play. It was a very nice time until we were just about to leave. Poor little Erica tripped over her sandals and fell VERY hard against one of the emergency doors in the play area. There is a small, vertical metal strip on the floor right in front of the door. She slammed her forhead right on it. Long story short, she is OK. She ended up with 3 stiches, but there was no indication of head trauma or anything more than a really bad cut. By the time we got home, you could not tell she had just been through a very traumatic event.

I am so encouraged by how God always sends what I call "my angels" to surround me in these times. They swoop in from who knows where and provide perfect help despite not knowing me or my situation. There was a family that provided a constant stream of napkins, water and ice at McDonalds that I hadn't noticed the whole time we were there. The paramedics were so nice and handled the kids so well. The nurses and doctor (even the receptionists) attended to us so well, too. The nurses who were not involved with the stiches took Stephanie out to the nurses station to color and make bracelets for the whole time we were there. The whole process went as smooth as it possibly could have. God is good.

Painting

Stephanie has been wanting to make a picture for Coach Casey. I keep forgetting about it until we're on our way to gymnastics. So, finally today, I was on the ball and we had another painting session. Stephanie decided to give him the "rainbow" picture.

Erica really got into mixing and making different textures by stroking the brush and blotting with it. She also played around with adding water.

Swim Lessons

Stephanie started swim lessons this week. She started off pretty timid, but has improved in leaps and bounds each day. She still isn't comfortable putting her face in the water, but she's doing really well floating on her back (with help) and loves the kick board. The teachers also use the swimming noodles and tie them around her chest. That way she can practice paddling and kicking. For the first two days, she wouldn't even consider jumping off the side of the pool, but that has been the most anticipated part of class the last two days. We'll see how next week goes.

Babe's Chicken House

It is a place of legend.... I am surprised we haven't heard more about Babe's. We tried going to one in Frisco when the Piccolo's visited at Christmas, but due to the 1 hour wait, we chose a different restaurant. A friend mentioned it recently and we decided to give it a try for lunch on Sunday. Wow! Yum! Interesting restaurant - very simple format. You just pick what meat you want (fried chicken, catfish, pot roast, ribs, etc) and they bring you all the trimmings family style: green salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, pinto beans, corn, and biscuits (VERY good biscuits - perhaps some of the best I have ever had). They have honey on the table, but they also have molasses for the biscuits - interesting, but yummy. The atmosphere was almost like you were at a massive family reunion - very homey.

I could describe the fried chicken to you, but I think Christian's story is better. We ordered the catfish and the fried chicken (chicken fingers for the girls - homemade and very good). All the sides were also very good. We got done eating and the waitress came to ask if we wanted dessert. I was stuffed, so I looked over at Christian. I have never seen the expression he had on his face. He just stared at the waitress and said, "I want more chicken." Ha ha! The waitress didn't quite know how to respond. We finally decided that just getting another order to-go was the best option.

Braving the Heat

The girls are getting stir crazy in all this heat, so I decided to head over to the cool playground behind the Rowlett community center. It's called, Kid's Kingdom, and has all sorts of nooks and crannies. The girls had a lot of fun together.

We played as long as we could stand it and then I suggested that we take a walk on the VERY SHADY fitness trail around the community center. We didn't get too far, but we did find a dead cicada that we stopped to look at. The sound from live ones was deafening in the trees above us, so it was particularly interesting to show the girls what kind of bug was making the noise.

Mashed Potatoes For Breakfast?!?!

Stephanie was SOOOO angry at me the other morning when I informed her that we were having mashed potatoes for breakfast. Her demeanor completely changed when I revealed that the mashed potatoes were in the form of Potato Buttermilk Doughnuts (Joy of Cooking)! Ha ha! I mean, what else do you do with the extra potato that you peeled for dinner before realizing that it was too much? They were yummy, but I really do prefer the raised doughnuts like I made a week ago or so.

Magic Show

The Community Center show this week was a magic show! Master magician, Jeff Lee, put on a great show. Stephanie always likes to talk to the performers, so we waited until everyone left and went to thank him. He very graciously performed a trick for her.

Happy Indepence Day!

We saw one of the best fireworks show on July 4th. We met up with a bunch of folks from our church in a field up the hill from where the main event was taking place. It was beautiful ... hot ... but peaceful and relaxing. We coordinated with another family with the food and I brought pulled pork sandwiches and whoopie pies (individually wrapped in bags).

I had some wonderful parent moments watching Stephanie and Erica working the crowd. They have so many nice friends from the church. They didn't eat anything all night. They were too busy playing with all their friends. They did drink their weight in pink lemonade, though! It was very hot.

Stephanie loved the show. It took Erica about 5 minutes to get over the noise and lights, but then she settled down and seemed to enjoy it, too. Like I said, it was probably one of the best shows I have ever seen.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Our dear friend, Hannah (blue butterfly dress), turned 4 this week and invited us to her Tinkerbell party on Saturday. The girls had such a great time. As soon as we got there, they had the kids get busy and focused on a craft - great idea. Even Erica jumped right in and made a foam butterfly. Stephanie is BURSTING and just can't wait for her own birthday to come. She had some hard moments watching Hannah have the spotlight, but we got through fine.

Critters

Oh mama! I enjoy the company of a couple house geckos that feed on the bugs on our kitchen window while I cook late at night. One night I noticed that one of them all of a sudden had two large white spots on its abdomen. I did a quick search online (so, this is all dependent on how much you believe what you read online!) and it looks like we have a pregnant lizard! Cool! I was able to show her to Stephanie one night and she keeps asking how the "mommy gecko" is doing. Sorry for the bad quality of the picture - I had to take it quick before she hid on me.

Stephanie is not so excited about all critters, though. At least once a week a mud dauber follows us inside. Since they are so good to have around .... OUTSIDE ... I try to catch them and return them safely outside. I caught this one while Stephanie and I were working on her work books. So, we had a little science moment of observation. As you can see from the picture, she didn't appreciate the educational moment as much as I did! Ha ha!