Siggie's last Swim Meet

Siggie's First Swim Meet

Siggie competed in her first swim meet. She was nervous. After the first race, which her group was the only one competing, she got a first place metal and she was excited. Well the next two races she did not place and was loosing her ambition. The last race was another relay and there was only her group of girls again so they had them swim against the boys. She got another first place and is so excited to have beaten the boys. I wish they would have had the times posted from that last race so I could have taken a picture for her. She was so proud to beat those dirty boys!

Internet is too slow

It takes too long to load the pictures. You will have to wait til we get home to see the pics. There are some good ones. Erin, Greg and the kids left today. Siggie is sad and has cried all morning wanting to go home. I may have to bribe her for the remainder of the trip. I must say her attitude is a bit catching....It is making me want to go home too. We need to stay so Eric can go and stay the weekend with his Aunt.

I miss my Mommy and Daddy. I don't know what Siggie's excuse is....I guess she just misses HOME.

Fun in the Sun!

Trying to upload pictures. Taking too long this morning. Will try again tonight.

Fun Times

Ingrid had her dance recital last weekend. She had three solos and they were fabulous. Her friend from school came to watch. Her name is Michaella. Sigrid's friend from school was also in the recital. I took Sigrid and her picture together but then forgot to upload it. The girls have swam all weekend. What fun they are having. When they are not swimming, they hafe drawn a four square court on the concrete and they play that. It is Astrid's favorite recess game and now she can play it at home with her sisters. On Saturday morning we picked strawberries at Clarksville. I made freezer jam yesterday. It was Eric's birthday yesterday so his cake was strawberry shortcake. I made a yellow sponge cake and I made pie crust for me and Astrid 'cause we like that instead of cake. Before we picked strawberries we went and watched the "Angel's" play baseball. It is a league for kids with special needs and the two girls in the picture running the bases are my favorites. Gilliah and Zoe. Both were abandoned at birth and adopted by a family here in Russellville who adopt many special needs children. These two girls brighten my day everyday. The shorter one has down syndrome and the taller one has another syndrome which the name of has left my brain right now. The girls and I had a blast watching them play ball. Every few minutes they would yell "Mrs. Laura, Look at me!" Except it came out of there mouths more like "Mrs. WaWa". I love it.

Week in Review

The girls have had Benchmark testing all week so we have been going to bed early and getting up early to eat a good breakfast. I am all "cooked" out for a few days. Astrid wanted red velvet cake for her birthday. She had the idea for the cherry pie filling and I must say it was delicous. Her and her friend Alyssa's birthdays are both in April so we rented the pool at Arkansas Tech and had a big time friday night. Good way to end testing week too.

Soccer season has started back up so weekends are full of games. Ingrid is getting ready for her big dance recital which will be at the end of May. She has three solo dances this year. She is also making up a dance to do in the talent show this year. Astrid promptly threw away her talent show entry form. Astrid goes to 5th grade camp on Tuesday. Hope she has fun. Sigrid does not have much going on these days. She is just busy going to Pops to play. She does have plants growing. She planted birdhouse gourds, sunflowers and watermelons. Everything is coming up and now we have to figure out where we are going to transplant it.

Two weeks til I head to Phoenix.

Sigrid is turning 6!!!

My baby girl turns six tomorrow. She loves frogs. Ingrid and I made this cake for the celebration tomorrow after school with Pop and Gigi. She has asked for an apron, cooking utensils, a bubble gum machine, and the movie Percy Jackson Lightning Thief. She wants to be awakened at midnight to open them but I don't think that will happen. She sent 5 invitations to little girls in her class to come and have a play date Saturday afternoon. She wants so bad to have a sleepover like her sisters but she will have to wait another couple of years. Astrid gets braces tomorrow. I will post a picture after she gets them. Ingrid has no big news. She is just my good, sweet, intelligent girl. Tonight at Astrid's volleyball practice. Ingrid was playing with some of the other little sisters. I heard one of the little girls say 5 boys in my class like me to which Ingrid responed "all the boys in my class like me". Top that one little girl. She is definitely a quick thinker.

Our weekend

BUSY BUSY BUSY!! We had soccer, volleyball, and the Little Rock marathon this weekend.

Good Manners Tea

At the 5th grade they have a good manners tea each year. The children practice there manners and how to small talk all month and then the parents dress up in white shirts and black pants and serve the children. The kids go two classrooms at a time and get to spend the first half with their friends and the last half they must introduce theirselves and small talk with children from the other class. The kids get really excited about the clothes they are going to wear and what their friends will be wearing. I took Astrid and let her pick out a whole new outfit and Erin thought it was a waste. But I had taken her other dress clothes to school for the counselor to let the girls who did not have any have to wear to the tea. It was all in good fun and I enjoyed it.

Gigi came and visited Astrid while she was there.

The blonde with Astrid is Eleanor and her mom is Astrid's pediatrician. Very sweet girl and she thinks it is such an adventure to come to our house. The dark headed girl is Alyssa, Astrid's closest friend and she is BIG time tomboy. This was such a stretch for her to wear pants and a sweater. She would not let her ponytail down though.

What we did in the snow

Ingrid and Sigrid spent friday building quilt tents and then playing in them. They also have slept in them the last two nights. I made them take them down today since we have school tomorrow.

Girls

Had to leave work today at 9:30. Astrid has a stomach bug and is very sick. Thought I would update what we have been doing. Astrid has started volleyball and I am glad as I was getting sick of soccer. She is really enjoying herself and the assistant coach from Tech is coaching and he is excellent.

Sigrid got all the POWELL genes I have decided. She was called to the principal's office yesterday. Turns out she was innocent. A girl accused her of punching her in the mouth. But as Siggie pointed out to the counselor, the girls mouth wasn't even bleeding and if she punched her she would have bled.

On Friday nights, Eric plays cards with a group of guys so the girls sleep with me. I took the above shot of Ingrid when I woke up. I don't know how she sleeps with all that hair. She has 3 solos in her dance recital this year and is very excited. She is ready for point shoes but we have decided in researching that it could effect her growth plates, so I am going to make her wait another year.

I wish I had time to get on here daily and type but I don't. I do read my Aunts blogs daily and love them.

Greta Ann

For Aunt Helen

Well Aunt Helen Eric had to take food to work today. So that means I had to cook. I made cinnamon rings last night and baked and frosted them this morning so they were nice and warm. Reportedly as soon as the plate hit the table they were gone. I have had several emails about how yummy they were and several emails from sadden individuals who were not there fast enough. Someone had the wise idea my mother taught me to make them.

Something else I learned from Helen "how to be a good kiss a**". SO I made another one and took it to the Special Education Office. This is where my boss is and where the state monitors are right now monitoring Russellville's Special Ed paperwork. I don't think there will be many mistakes found in my paperwork.

Love you Aunt Helen. I took pics of them also but can't upload them from work. I will upload them tonight so Helen can see how good I did.

Bowling

Christmas Parade

Ingrid was invited to be in the Christmas Parade. She was on the float for her Dance Studio. Her teacher really thinks she is something and is always saying she forgets she is only 8. Mrs. Paige instructed the girls she wanted them to sing Christmas Carols while the float was moving. Well Ingrid being the creative one she is changed the words to Jingle Bells to include things about the Dance Studio. Mrs. Paige was thrilled and wanted her to sing that through the whole parade. Ingrid taught it to two other girls and they all sang it during the parade.

Cousins

Clayton came last week and Siggie is missing him today. Sisters are leaving her out and she wishes Clayton was here so she could impart more of her wisdom to him.

Things I learned from Siggie

Fleta came yesterday to get something I had for Hannah. We were gone to a soccer game but Siggie stayed behind to help Aunt Fleta. Last night Siggie told me.....

Fleta wanted to take your new ladder but I told her "No you can't have that one but you can take one of these old wooden ones over here" (those were Pops)

First Siggie told me Fleta was the youngest then she said "No that is wrong. Gigi is the youngest of all but not like 6 or 7 young. She is just young for old people."

I asked Siggie if Fleta went down her slide. She said "No cause she is old."

Problem

I have been finding piles of hair and strings behind doors, under dressers and tables. I think I have all the scissors put up but some how she keeps finding more pairs. When she stayed with Pop before she started back to school Gigi found a 3 inch piece of blond hair under her magnifying mirror.

I thought we wouldn't do this anymore after we cut our hair and talked a little boy into cutting his hair in preschool. When I picked her up that day she cried worried she wouldn't be pretty anymore.

I guess we have just moved on to cutting other things.

Which one do you want Gigi?

First day of School

I took pictures of the sleeping girls before I woke them. Ingrid started out in an outfit with white shorts but spilled her orange juice on them then Siggie had on an adorable lemonade outfit but when I was out of the kitchen her older sister convinced her to snort orange juice up her nose which also then sprayed all over her first day outfit. So I will have to take pictures this week of the outfits that were supposed to be for the first day so Helen can see them.

We followed tradition and had homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast the first day.

Sigrid is loving kindergarten she is amazed there is a "drive thru" her name for the cafeteria line. She also says all the girls at her school are pink and purple girls but she is a blue and green girl so she doesn't fit in with them well. She has a boy named Cade Powell in her room and I suggested she try being friends with him. She has had too many stories to post.