Amelia Answers Questions about Daddy

 1. What makes Daddy happy? 

Amelia:  When I tickle him.

2. What makes Daddy sad? 

Amelia: When I don't give him snuggles and when Megan doesn't give him snuggles.

3. How does Daddy make you laugh?

Amelia: By tickling me!

4. How old is Daddy? 

Amelia: 33?

5. How tall is Daddy?  

Amelia:  Oh, I forgot to do that (she had been measuring all kinds of things with a tape measure).  I don't know.  I could measure him (she gets out my measuring tape).  Ummm, he's 72.  No, wait, he's 76 inches.

6. What does Daddy do when you're not around? 

Amelia: When I'm, like, taking my rest?  He goes out in the garage to work on things.

7. What is Daddy really good at? 

Amelia: Fixing things.  Like he painted our table.  That's all I can think of.

8. What is Daddy not really good at? 

Amelia: Baking.  Because he doesn't know how to bake pancakes.

9. What is Daddy's favorite food? 

Amelia:   Pizza.

10. What do you and Daddy do together?  

Amelia: Snuggle.

11:  How are you and Daddy the same?  

Amelia:  Oh, that's a hard one!  Because I don't even know how Daddy and I are the same. (thinks for a long time)  Well, Daddy has some little curls in his hair that he doesn't like to come out, and I have curls in my hair.  Maybe sometime you should curl Daddy's hair with a curling iron.

12. How are you and Daddy different? 

Amelia: Because I'm a girl and Daddy's a boy.  And Daddy doesn't like to get his nails painted like me.

13. What is Daddy's name?  

Amelia: Ben.

14. How do you know Daddy loves you? 

Amelia: Because he likes to hug and kiss me.

15. Where is Daddy's favorite place to go? 

Amelia:  Go out and do special things with us like go to the Children's Museum.

16. What is Daddy's favorite color?  

Amelia: Green

17. What does Daddy do at work?

Amelia: Uhhh, he has lots of meetings.  Daddy doesn't like meetings.

18. If Daddy were in a movie that you liked, who would he be?

Amelia: (thinks for a long time)  He could be Woody!

19.  What does Daddy like most about Mommy?

Amelia: Oh, that's a hard question. Because he loves you, because you're nice!

20. Do you want to be just like Daddy when you're 33 years old?

Amelia:  No.  Because I want to be a ballet teacher.

21.  What present should we give Daddy for his birthday?

Amelia: A new t-shirt with a picture of Woody on it.

22.  What is Daddy made of?

Amelia: Money.

23. Who is Daddy's best friend?

Amelia:  Pickles.

24. What did Daddy like to do when he was 5 years old?
Amelia: Play with his mommy and daddy.  He liked to play with balls and Fisher Price people.  Go to kindergarten.

25. If Daddy could go anywhere on vacation, where would he go?
Amelia: Michigan 

26. What do you want Daddy to get you for your birthday?
Amelia:  A little bed with a rail for my kitty Dinah.  It has to be a pretty bed.  And a little Christmas tree for Christmas.  And a little quilt with a heart that has a D on it.

27.  What does Daddy look like?
Amelia: He looks like a raccoon.  Giggle giggle giggle.   He has hazel eyes and a green mouth with purple hair and a red nose.  Giggle giggle giggle.

28. Which of Daddy's clothes do you like best?
Amelia: I like his Cardinals shirt.

29.  If Daddy was going to take you out on a special date, where would you want to go?
Amelia: The Children's Museum and the place with the carousel that has the fancy things hanging from the ceiling (Ella's Deli)

30. What is Daddy's favorite book to read to you?
Amelia:  Little Pea and Pablo and Yum, Yum, What Fun!

Amidst the Dandelions

The dandelions were beautiful this year, but it was hard to take photos because we got so much rain.  The few non-rainy days were very sunny, so sorry for the bad lighting.  Interestingly, the peak dandelion day was about a month later than last year (May 8 - 13 vs April 14).  

Amelia looks like she could be a model in the next photo, so serious!

Megan had a lot of fun picking the dandelions and holding a big bouquet. 

 

And then she got bored....  I love this face!

A Sneak Peek at Amelia's Ballet Recital

At ballet class last week, Amelia got her costume for her upcoming recital.  Then the girls practiced their dance while the moms got to watch.  It was so cute!  Amelia did a fantastic job, following along with the teacher who was dancing off to the side.  Most of the kids in the class didn't follow along quite so well, as you can see by the girls crawling around on the floor while Amelia is dancing.  If you hear giggling, it's because of the little girls not paying any attention, not because of Amelia.



The song is Snow White's "Someday My Prince Will Come" sung by Ashley Tisdale.  It's not a song I would have chosen for a 3 & 4 year old ballet recital, but it turned out pretty cute with the costumes and all the silly little girls.

She had a rehearsal at the high school auditorium this Monday, which was a lot of fun.  Before we got there, Amelia told me that she was pretty nervous about being on stage.  But after we left, she said she was only a teeny bit scared ("this scared!" she said, pinching her forefinger and thumb together) and a lot excited ("this excited!" she said, reaching her arms out as far as they would go).  She was having so much fun watching the other classes practice their dances that we ended up staying an extra hour just to watch the other girls.  Her teacher was standing off to the side reminding them of their dance steps, so that's why all the girls are looking to the side.

She's one of the older girls in the class, and she also likes to follow directions, so she was one of the few girls who watched the teacher and did all the steps when she was supposed to.  Some of the littler girls spent a lot of time playing on the floor.

Amelia was NOT a fan of having makeup applied.  She had to have pink eyes, pink cheeks and pink lips.  Turns out I do not own pink eyeshadow, so thanks for sending me some, Becky!  I had to add blush to her eyes to get it to show up, though, because your pink was very light.  It did add some fun sparkle though!  I also added a little mascara, which Amelia hated.  And thank goodness for free Clinique samples, otherwise I'd have had no baby pink lipstick either.  She loved wearing a pink crown, but was not a fan of the pony tail, hair spray or bobby pins.  I told her if she wants to dance ballet, she needs to learn to like all those things.  After watching all the other classes dance, she told me that she wants to take a lot of ballet classes next year so that she can be in a lot of dances in the recital and get to wear a lot of pretty costumes.  I told her I thought one class was plenty for a five year old. 

Isn't she beautiful?

 

Amelia found my phone again....

She wanted to take a picture of Megan sleeping in her crib when we went in to get Megan up one morning.  We've convinced Megan to sleep with only one blanket since it's been so warm lately, although she always picks her fleecy Tinkerbell blanket, so she usually seems warm when she wakes up.  She has a collection of small stuffed animals that sleep on either side of her pillow, and she has to arrange them in a particular order before she can go to sleep each night.  Lately she's been wanting to sleep with her little plastic dinosaurs, penguins or Happy Meal Barbie, too.  It doesn't seem like they'd be very comfortable to sleep with.

As I was helping Megan get dressed, Amelia figured out how to turn the camera around so she could look at herself in the phone, and she took a whole bunch of pictures of herself making funny faces. 

First Day for the Kiddie Pool

The girls asked if we could get the pool out today, because they saw a few of the neighbor kids playing in pools.  It was 78 degrees and cloudy, so I thought it wouldn't last long.  But no... they played in the pool for an hour and a half!  The new slide that Grandma Jane found is perfect for sliding into the pool.  They even figured out that they could fill up their watering cans and pour water down the slide to turn it into a speedy water slide - so speedy that Amelia almost slid right out of the pool.

The slide is also perfect for practicing ballet by doing arabesques. 

Amelia had fun splashing - she even managed to splash Daddy a few times.

The girls played very nicely together most of the time, although there was a little bit of arguing about who didn't want to be splashed (Megan) and who was blocking the slide (Amelia).  I am trying to let them settle little disputes like that by themselves, but that means I spend a lot of time saying things like "You need to work it out between the two of you" and "Remember to take turns".  It's very cute how Megan likes to follow along with whatever Amelia wants to do, but I think Amelia is a little bit too used to being the boss.  :)

 My smiley girl and my serious girl:

Dandelion Girl

When we came home from preschool today, the girls wanted to go outside and pick dandelions.  We went across the street and picked dandelions in the field for probably 45 minutes.  Now we have huge bouquets on our dining room table, on the girls' table, in Amelia's room and in Megan's room.  Amelia wanted to put a bouquet on the mantel, but I convinced her that they would be more cheerful in her room.

Guess I need some more practice making dandelion crowns!  Amelia's favorite photo is the one of her looking up cross-eyed at the crown on her head.

Messy Eaters

Amelia was being a goofball eating her yogurt the other day, and actually asked if I would take a picture of her so she could see how silly she looked.  Usually I think Amelia looks more like me in photos, but in this one, I think she looks EXACTLY like Ben!

Megan had quite a messy face, too, after eating yogurt and a pita with Nutella.  I think her mouth looks kind of like the Joker, but aside from that, I think these photos show off her beautiful eyes.  Aren't her pigtails cute, too?

It is nice to have some beautiful light again, after the very long and very dreary winter we've had.

Happy May Day!

We took May baskets to Amelia's preschool teachers on May Day (it has just taken me this long to download the photos off my memory card).  

In our yard, we had two daffodils blooming and a very small clump of grape hyacinths, so Ben had to go to the store to buy flowers for the May baskets.  The girls arranged the flowers themselves, which was interesting, and they were very enthusiastic about handing them out.  Megan was especially excited to say "Happy May Day!" and give her baskets to the preschool director and the children's librarian.

The weather has been changeable here lately, hence Amelia's decision to wear a sundress with a sweater and socks with sandals.  I made her wear a long sleeved dress, tights, and regular shoes today because the high is only 47.  She was not happy - I think she's ready to be done with winter!